Another Time, Another Place
by Toonwalla
Summary: (Part 2 of the Another Time series) Lifa of Asgard has been stranded on Earth for more than two years and so far it has been peaceful. She has three good friends and a free life to lead that is hers. But when an old shadow from the past appears and steals a deadly force of power will Lifa be able put aside her freedom and fight for the greater good?
1. Prologue

**Prologue: In A Galaxy Far, Far Away...**

"Dude! Seriously how can you eat one whole pizza, a whole roll of garlic bread as well as a whole packet of pop tarts and still be hungry?" Darcy Lewis cried out as Lifa Odins-daughter made to devour another one of the surprisingly delicious Earthen foods.

They were sitting on the couch in Jane's laboratory in front of the blank television as Lifa promptly made to plough through as much food as she could.

It wasn't her fault that SHIELD was driving her to train like a soldier nearly every second day now was it?

She snorted slightly haughtily as she dabbed at her mouth with a paper napkin

"Whatever said and done Darcy I am still an eighteen year old Asgardian and as such still require nourishment to grow"

"You don't have to tell me twice" Darcy grumbled darkly. Not that Lifa could blame her. The poor intern had been putting up with her eating habits for the past two months now and she was itching to put a tab lock on the refrigerator.

"HEY GUYS!" a woman's voice called out as the front door opened with a clang.

"Hey babe!" Darcy called just as Lifa quickly swallowed a bite of food.

"Oh welcome back Jane. I trust your venture outside to _rent the movies_ was a success?" she looked up and saw that the older woman was carrying a large bag chock full of DVD's.

"Err…Jane if we're gonna watch all those tonight we're going to need a hell of a lot of coffee" Darcy stared at her friend as the bag was deposited by the floor.

"We're not going to watch them all tonight and we don't have to return them either. I bought them fair and square" Jane muttered

"Which one are we going to watch?" Lifa asked excitedly. She had only just learned about the thrilling experience of watching movies just last month and already Jane and Darcy had helped her finish with all the Disney classics.

Jane smiled at the younger girl's enthusiasm as she made to rummage through the bag to get to a particularly large box set at the bottom.

When she pulled it out Lifa positively bounced on her seat.

It was the full six parts of the Star Wars collection.

"Pity Erik couldn't be here" Darcy mumbled as she made to squish up close to Lifa to make room for Jane to sit on the couch just as the opening titles began to roll in.

_"In a galaxy far, far away…"_

But then just as the opening music blared, Lifa winced and clutched her head, barely hearing her two friends beside her as her vision swum before her eyes.

An image of a glowing blue white cube floating in the air, energy sparking off of it.

She came back to herself just in time to hear Darcy swearing her head off at Jane who was fiddling around trying to figure out how to work the volume on the remote.

"NO! NO you bloody idiot. Press the red button!"

"I'm trying alright its not working"

"Well hand it over to me then I'll fix it"

"No I can do this right"

"Just hand it over"

Lifa quickly stood up and walked away.

"Hey where are you-"

"Bathroom" she replied loudly glad when she heard Jane and Darcy begin to fight over the remote again.

Once she reached the bathroom and shut the door behind her, she slumped at once against it her head throbbing as she allowed herself to be consumed by darkness

_She was standing in the shadows on a stone shelf that seemed to be floating in the middle of space. Above her and to her right she could see the large silhouette of a man like figure seated upon a large throne. Before him standing on the same level platform Lifa was, was as a much smaller, slimier creature with a hood over its head and a mask over its face stepped forth speaking in a deep but slimy, slithering voice._

_"The Tesseract has awakened. It is on a little world, a human world. They would wield its power, but our ally knows its workings as they never will He is ready to lead and our force, our Chitauri will follow. A world shall be his. The Universe shall be yours. And the Humans what can they do but burn!"_

_There was a deep chuckle from high above her from the seated figure as he joined in with his henchman before looking out to the side, to another asteroid on which a tall lean figure dressed in green and carrying a golden sceptre was standing in the distance looking out over the empty vacuum of space._

_Lifa's eyes widened as he turned back to face her and the two shadows._

_"Are you ready to do your bit Trickster?"_

_"Yes" the god of mischief smirked back widely "I am ready"_

"LOKI" Lifa gasped and at once everything in reality came crashing back around her, including the now angry yells between her two new female friends.

"And what about the time you accidently poured Yogurt over it?"

"Oh my god that was like one time! Hey Lifa where are you going?" Jane called out as the young teenager made to run out of the bathroom and towards the glass door of the lab.

"I have to warn Fury" Lifa cried out as she quickly pulled on her trainers at the front door "Midgard is in danger. Keep your hands off my pop tart Darcy! I shall be back as soon as I may" she cried, her voice lost in the winds as she ran down the street and into the night.

* * *

And there you have it the first sneak peek/prologue of the Avengers Arc of the "Another Time" series "Another Time, Another Place".

Keep checking for updates on my profile to find that story and Read and Review it if you like :)


	2. Chapter 1

** Chapter 1: Doors Open From Both Sides**

The evacuation sirens in the SHIELD facility were loud and irritating as it signalled to all personnel within the compound that they had to leave. However even as they darted down a long winding metal stairs further into the heart of the facility, a dark man with an eye patch followed by a woman with brown hair and wearing a dark blue stealth body suit ignored the sound.

They had something else to worry about.

"Sir evacuation may be futile" the woman, Maria Hill pursed her lips as she made to follow the man in front of her.

"We should tell them to go back to sleep?" Director Fury scowled darkly and Hill rolled her eyes.

"If we can't control the Tessearact's energy, there may not be a minimum safe distance"

"I need you to make sure the Phase 2 prototypes are shipped out"

"Sir is that really a priority now?"

"Until such time as the world ends we will act as though it intends to spin on. Clear out the tech below. Every piece of Phase 2 on a truck and gone"

Hill shuddered as Fury turned his one good eye on her and narrowed it dangerously as he made to open a door.

"Yes sir" she nodded tersely before walking off and ordering a few armed men to follow her.

Fury sighed heavily and strode into the room he had just opened. He understood Hill's concerns perfectly, even sympathised and agreed with them. However he was the director of one of the biggest secret defence agencies on the planet, and it was his duty to ensure that the work that went into maintaining safety could be preserved to be continued for another day.

"Talk to me Doctor" Fury called as he caught sight of a middle aged man fiddling close to a machine in which a bright blue cube was glowing, hovering in the middle of several metal prongs which sparked off sporadically and brightly.

"Director" the man, Erik Selvig, stood up straight and strode over to Fury at once.

"Is there anything we know for certain?"

"The Tesseract is misbehaving".

"Is that supposed to be funny?"

"No, it's not at all" Erik's voice was light but his eyes were grim "The Tesseract is not only active…She's _behaving_"

At this Fury quirked an eyebrow. The way he was talking almost sounded like he was talking about a tiresome child he was having trouble getting to bed.

"I assume you pulled the plug?"

"She's an energy source, we turn off the power she turns it back on" Erik sighed in exasperation. "If she reaches peak level-"

"We prepared for this Doctor" Fury cut in sternly "Harnessing energy from space"

"But we don't have the harness." Erik snorted as he came up to a computer and began to pull up the readings on it.

"My calculations are far from complete. And she's throwing off interference, radiation. Nothing harmful" he added as Fury turned quickly back to look at the glowing blue cube "Just low levels of gamma radiation"

"That can be harmful" Fury replied tensely as he looked around them "Where's Agent Barton?"

"The Hawk?" Erik snorted looking up from his computer screen and jerking a thumb towards a far corner in the ceiling behind him "Up in his nest as usual"

Fury frowned as he put a hand up to a wireless communications unit in his ear.

"Agent Barton Report"

There was no reply on the other end but Fury did see a dark shadow of a man quietly zip down from the high vaulted ceiling and quietly land behind some equipment.

Fury's eye narrowed as Agent Clint Barton approached. Even with the dark clothes he wore it was plain for anyone to see that he was stockily built with strong arms, short brown hair and a purposeful stride. His eyes a stormy grey were focused on Fury with a keen astuteness as he came level with the director, who did not look amused one bit.

"I gave you this detail so that you could keep a close eye on things" Fury said sternly as he began to walk with Barton who only remained cool and calm.

"Well I see better from a distance. But if you wanted another pair of eyes you could've called in the girl instead of wasting my time"

Fury's scowled with irritation but he chose to ignore that last statement.

"Have you seen anything that might set this thing off?" Fury pointed at the cube just as several scientists began to bustle around as a certain energy wave spiked on their graphs.

"No one's come or gone." Barton replied calmly "and Selvig's clean. No contacts, no IMs. If there was any tampering sir it wasn't on this end"

"_At this end_?" Fury quirked a brow at Barton who gave a nonchalant shrug.

"Yeah, the Cube is a doorway to the other end of space right? And doors open from both sides, oh wait hold on"

Fury rolled his eyes as Barton put a hand up to his ear com.

"Barton here"

_"Clint" _A girl's voice called from the other end of the line. "_Clint_ _are you still at the base?_"

"Yeah I am, what's wrong?" Barton frowned but all he got from the other end were exhausted pants for breath and a small grunt.

"Kid?"

"_Clint you've got to find Fury_." The girl groaned as if in pain "_I've tried contacting him but he's not receiving any of my messages and the fools at the HUB are fumbling about-"_

"Hey, hey slow down kid I've got Fury right here, I'll patch him through"

He gave the director a sharp look but already Fury was tapping his ear piece.

"What is it Lifa?" he sounded calm but his face was worried.

"_Fury there was a vision_" The girl, Lifa, puffed, "_It'll take too much time to explain what it was so I beg of you to trust me when I say you must find the Tesseract at once and you must -_"

But what Fury had to do he never found out because at that precise moment the cube beside them suddenly burst into a blinding bright blue white light.

Fury and Barton both ducked for cover with their hands over their heads as a giant beam of light suddenly burst forth from the Tesseract Cube piercing through the entire fabric of the space around them with a high pitched humming sound that almost split their eardrums.

Finally after about ten metres the beam seemed to hit its target which was a spot in the centre of a circular space at the end of the room. As soon as it was focused enough a circular hole spread out, its insides black as night even though it was surrounded by a bright blue ring of energy.

It held open for a few moments as something beyond the ring of blue and in the black of its centre began to glow brightly, its energy intensifying for a moment before.

_KABOOM!_

The ring burst out, white energy blasting around the room knocking several people to their feet as the earth beneath them shook as if an earthquake had just hit.

Fury and Barton managed to stay up though and were able to see that at the end of the hall opposite them, a figure seemed to rise up to its feet. As it did the residual energy from the explosion hissed off it and up into the air, much like how steam would when cold water is poured on heated metal.

There was a small pause in which everyone scrambled to their feet and watched as the new arrival lifted up their head and grinned wickedly up at them.

* * *

If anyone had been watching down on the quiet deserted grasslands of the New Mexican desert they would have been very surprised to hear a young female voice roar out in frustration and pain.

Whatever small animals that lived in the dirt of the desert floor all hid for their lives as a girl with blonde curls and wearing only a scruffy pair of jeans with a loose white T-shirt and worn out sneakers, kicked the dirt with such force that it sent a tiny tremor in the solid ground beneath.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!"

Lifa, the daughter of Odin, rarely ever lost her temper or swore aloud, but when she did it was as loudly and uncouthly as a sailor on the high seas. She growled as she tapped off her com link and ran a hand through her hair trying to ignore the stuttering static as it mixed horribly with thundering pounding of her headache.

"This cannot be happening now" she groaned looking down at the band around her right wrist. It was a golden colour with strange runes etched all over it, all of which were currently glowing a bright amber energy.

"Perfect" she growled bringing her hand up and twirling her wrist around clockwise three times.

At once a stream of golden amber energy trailed from her fingertips, flowing around following their path until they became a ring which glowed for a moment before fading away as an image became visible in the ring of light.

What she saw made her heart both leap out of her chest with joy and her stomach drop like a stone.

"Loki" she breathed reaching out for the face that filled the magical window in front of her.

The trickster's face was thin and pale, his slicked black hair slightly longer than the last time she'd seen him, and there was no mistaking the bright gleam in his bright green eyes. However before she could make much else of his features he straightened up and she had to pull the borders of her magic screen wider in order to see the full picture.

He was standing in the middle of a darkened room with only a couple of dim lights on the wall behind him. But still it was enough for Lifa to see that he dressed all in his favourite dark greens and black armoured robes. The familiar sight would have been endearing for her if she had not also noticed that he was holding in his hands a golden sceptre with sharp blades at the tip surrounding a glowing blue stone.

Lifa shuddered as she felt the magical energy pulsing off the object. It was powerful, very powerful, and almost as strong as the Gullhringr's bracelet that she wore around her hand at this moment.

"Sir," Came a familiar voice from somewhere outside of her image. "Please put down the spear"

Lifa quickly twirled her hand once more and at once another magical circle appeared alongside the one with Loki, this time focusing on two people, a dark man with a black eye patch over his right eye and the other man with sharp grey eyes quietly gripping his gun by his side.

She quickly turned her attention back to Loki who looked down at the sceptre in his hands quietly with intrigue.

Lifa gulped as he looked up and gave a small smirk.

_Oh no this cannot be good…_

It wasn't. As quick as lightning Loki jerked his hand and at once a large shot of blue light burst from the sceptre firing off at Fury who was pushed out of the way by Barton.

Then several gunshots rang out as human agents made to fire their guns at Loki. However the bullets only bounced off the god of mischief's armour and with a grin of satisfaction he leapt down upon one of them.

Lifa jumped back in alarm as Loki struck swiftly, stabbing the mortal straight through the chest with the blades on the sceptre's tips before flinging a couple of daggers at two of his victims friends who had rushed forwards to help him.

No…this could not be him…this violent ruthless man …could not be Loki…

The Loki she'd known was kind and gentle, perhaps a bit forceful and devious in his temper sometimes but still…

She couldn't help but squeak in fright as Fury dove out of the way of a blast of magic his gunshot skewed by the sudden change in position. It bounced off the wall behind Loki who made his way to deliver such a powerful strike that the man that was attacking him flew back to slam against the wall, his spine breaking upon impact with the cemented surface.

There was a pause in which Loki looked around at the now decimated laboratory, though his attention was quick to turn to Barton who was trying to struggle to his feet on the side.

Swiftly he moved in on the SHIELD agent but Barton was quick enough to block the kill strike with the gun in his hand, however…

"CLINT" Lifa cried out as Loki made to grab the agent's hand in a painful twisted lock.

Clint Barton was one of the six humans Lifa had known since the start of her stay on Earth two years ago. It was he that Director Fury had first sent to keep an eye on her during those first six months, and it was he who was now in charge of overseeing most of her SHIELD training, seeing as she was a part of their special initiative.

Though a quiet and grim man, Lifa found she rather enjoyed Barton's company and his teachings. Most of her tutors back in Asgard had been either strict and harsh, or bootlicking and simpering.

Barton was neither.

He was blunt in his opinions but fair in his methods, though he was a rather keen perfectionist. It was perhaps because of that that there were a lot of people in SHIELD who thought him cold and distant. But Lifa knew better. Her brother Thor's friend Hogun was almost the same, except he never smiled. Even Barton knew how to crack a good joke once in a while, though his were usually deadpanned and sarcastic.

And so it was with great horror that she watched as Barton's wrist was slowly grinded in an unnatural angle, as he glared defiantly at Loki who grinned with faint amusement laced with admiration.

"You have heart" he muttered before quickly pressing the sceptre towards Barton's chest. However instead of piercing him straight through the blades only lightly poked at the spot over his heart, and the blue gem set within them began to glow.

"No…" Lifa breathed in horror as she saw a wave of energy spread through Barton's body, seeping through his skin into his veins staining them black until the energy reached his eyes. She gazed transfixed in horror as for one moment the agents' pupils were lost in a blackness before the irises suddenly reappeared. However they were no longer the stormy grey of Barton's keen eyes. They were a vibrant icy electric blue, just like the Tesseract.

Loki smirked as he removed the magic sceptre from Barton's chest, leaving the SHIELD agent to look blankly at him as he returned his gun back onto a holster on his thigh.

Lifa quickly checked her other magic window and saw to her anxiousness Fury trying to sneak away with the Tesseract, which he'd placed in a special insulated suitcase to suppress its power and the residual radiation pouring from it.

But as he almost slipped away, Loki's soft voice echoed throughout the room.

"Please don't. I still need that"

Fury paused mid step and turned around to face Loki with a scathing glower.

"This doesn't have to get any messier"

"Of course it does" Loki sneered "I've come too far for anything else. I am Loki…of Asgard. And I am burdened with _glorious_ purpose"

Lifa frowned as she observed Loki's face. Now that he was in better light, she could clearly see dark rings under his eyes. His skin too had an unnaturally papery look as it hung slightly about his face.

He was tired, very tired, and in pain…something was hurting him. Lifa quickly looked him over and saw to her shock that he was leaning ever so slightly on his left leg and his free hand by his side was shaking with the smallest of tremors.

But neither of those could have been caused by the fight just now. He had not been hit by anything or anyone…so why?

_Loki…what happened to you?_

But she was forced out of her concern as she heard Erik Selvig's voice rasp as he pulled himself up onto his feet.

"Loki? Brother of Thor"

"We have no quarrel with your people" Fury put a pacifying hand up to the god of mischief but the green eyes only flashed with more anger.

"An ant has no quarrel with a boot" Loki hissed.

"Are you planning to step on us?" Fury narrowed his eye.

"I come with glad tidings" Loki's face split into a mocking grin "Of a world made free"

"Free from what?"

"Freedom" Loki stated baldly "Freedom is life's great lie. Once you accept hat, in your heart" he swiftly turned and stuck the blades of his sceptre over Erik's heart, setting loose a wave of blue energy into him "You will know peace"

"Yeah you say peace. But I kinda think you mean the other thing" Fury gritted his teeth.

Lifa shuddered and shut her eyes the words reverberating off the walls of her head as a memory of long ago washed over her.

_"Lifa why did you have to go? You know father had given you permission to come outside with Thor and I tomorrow. Just one more day and you would have been free" Loki's voice was gentle as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders as they sat by the window._

_"Permission? More like parole" Lifa mumbled darkly. "You and Thor get to go anywhere and everywhere whenever you please Loki. So do not try to smile and gloss it over. I'm never going to be free and if I do its probably going to be as real as one of your illusions, as horrible as a lie."_

_"Lifa…" Loki looked down on her in shock as she buried her face into her knees and snivelled loudly._

Lifa opened her eyes, her allowing her melancholy to wash over her as she stood alone in the middle of the deserted plains.

She had been only thirteen years old back then, and had reached the stage of her life when she was beginning to sneak outside of the palace to see the rest of Asgard. One day Odin's guards had caught her and after a loud but brief argument with her father Lifa had been locked in her room. Loki had then been the only one of the family that had visited her, and even then he'd done so in secret, for Odin had forbidden anyone besides her maids and the guards to see her until the next day.

It was so hard for her to believe that the same person that had once risked his king's anger just to comfort a crying teenager would be trying to now enforce an iron fist upon a world of innocent mortals just because he had more power over them.

She barely heard Barton's next words as she stared blankly at Loki's face.

"Sir, Director Fury is stalling, this place is about to blow and drop a hundred feet of rock on us. He means to bury us"

"Like the Pharaohs of old" Fury snorted.

"he's right, the portal's collapsing in on itself" Erik called from the sidelines as he checked an unharmed computer "we've got maybe two minutes before this goes critical"

"Well then" Loki looked to Barton who without any further word, snapped out his gun in a heartbeat and shot at Fury.

"NO!" Lifa cried as Fury fell backwards, to writhe in pain. The bullet had gone straight into his shoulder but not his chest and it was with great pain that he struggled on the floor as Loki, Barton and Erik along with a few other guards the god of mischief had managed to turn to his will, snagged the Tesseract's case and strode out of the room.

It was with blank eyes that she turned all her energies onto scrying on Loki who was currently sitting at the back of an open backed truck kneeling down to avoid the gun shots as Maria Hill pointed her handheld at him. However the bullets only ricocheted off the cement walls as another car made to follow Loki.

Lifa watched as a car chase ensued between the two vehicles, her confusion mounting. She wanted so badly for Hill to take down the truck and take back the Tesseract. But she also didn't want Loki to get hurt.

Lifa's fists clenched by her sides as she remembered look over his face as he fell into the dark vacuum of space after falling off the bifrost bridge. So despondent, so lost, so broken.

No matter what he did and what he was about to do, she didn't think she could bear seeing anything horrible happen to him...not again…

But she could also not bear the thought of anything horrible happening to the lives of the innocents by his hands either.

And so it was with a great effort that she swatted away the magical ring in front of her, its amber glow disappearing into the cold night air even as she made to sprint back to Jane's Laboratory, her eyes streaming with tears.

_Oh Loki, must we be destined to always fight against one another?_

* * *

Loki's triumphant smirk faded upon his lips as he slumped down to relax at the back of the truck. The night air about him was cold in comparison to the burning flames of the wreckage he had just left behind him, but he didn't mind.

The cold never bothered him anyway.

But it wasn't so much the cold winds as it was the earth they travelled upon that had him scathing. So this was the world Thor had been banished to? The world his Lifa had died upon.

It was…pathetic. The humans were weak and whatever weapons they had were tedious and mere sticks in comparison to the power he now held in his hands.

True, the agent Barton had more heart than he'd expected, but still, the man had much talent that went to waste upon an organisation like SHIELD.

_But once I am king, I will show these mortals the truest form of evolution and maybe, just maybe in time they will grow._

_But is it right Loki? To force someone to grow just because you feel that you can?_

Another small voice piped up from the corner of his mind.

"No…no go away… you're not real…" Loki growled under his breath forcing a lump in his throat down in one painful gulp.

_You don't have to do this Loki. _

"But I do have to do this…I have to do it for you…to avenge you…" Loki shut his eyes tight as his mind was haunted by a pair of bright blue eyes looking pleadingly up at him.

_Loki…there is good within you…_

"No…there isn't…not anymore" he whispered to the darkness.

_It died with you…Lifa_

And it was true…whatever form of gentle kindness or compassion that had once been in his heart had frozen solid just as the Destroyer had delivered the final blow those two years ago.

And none of it would ever come back.

He was sure of it.

* * *

Fury growled with frustration as he made to struggle up to his feet.

Damn that Asgardian! Not only had he taken out his helicopter with a single blast, but he'd also gotten away with two of the most talented assets to his organisation as well as the world's most powerful source of energy. All on his own without any assistance from anyone!

He narrowed his eye as the dark truck commandeered by his targets became no more than a shadow in the distance as it drove fast into the night.

"_Director_" a voice in his com link called, sounding worried.

"_Director Fury do you copy?_"

Fury picked up a walkie talkie from his belt instead of the earpiece. He had heard the pop of metal in his ears when the tesseract had first created Loki's portal, and he knew that it was completely out for the count.

It was with grave intensity that he addressed his colleague.

"The Tesseract is with a hostile force. I have men down._ Hill?_" he asked and soon he heard the familiar feminine grunt from his right hand's end.

"_A lot of men still under. I don't know how many survivors_"

"Sound a general call" Fury stated quickly "I want every living soul not working on rescue looking for that briefcase."

"_Roger that_" Hill puffed with exhaustion but fury had already returned his attention back to his first caller.

"Coulson, get back to New Mexico ASAP. When there pick up The Girl and bring her back to base. This is a Level Seven. As of right now we are at war"

There was a pause as both Coulson and Hill seemed to digest this piece of information before the latter muttered worriedly.

"What do we do?"

_One Asgardian…so much damage..._

Fury's eyes narrowed as he looked about at the wake of mass destruction that Loki had alone managed to leave behind him.

_…but its not over yet, we still have one ball in our court…_

"Call in all Avengers"

* * *

And queue in Avengers main theme and titles!

YAY! *cheers loudly* so epic.

God Fury and Barton are hard to write!

Hawkeye's perhaps the hardest because he's not really explored much as a character in Avengers, seeing as he was brainwashed for 90% of the movie. (which is a pity really because he looked like he'd be a really interesting guy).

Also I've always wondered, does anyone know what the hell happened between him and Black Widow (Natasha) in Budapest that they _remember very differently_?

If any of you are new to this fic I'd just want to say that this is the second part of a the "Another Time" Saga and that you can check out the first part "Another Time Another Place" on my profile if you want. it might help explain a couple of things in this fic (like my OC).

Hope you enjoyed and keep Reading and Reviewing for the next chapter.


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Children of the Gods**

It was barely the crack of dawn, but still it was so dark that the street lamp over his head stood out starkly against the black night.

But still SHIELD agent Phil Coulson watched the road with worry as someone in dark jeans and a grey hoody strode towards the vehicle he was currently standing outside of.

Oh how he hated being out in the open like this, especially since so many of their agents were scattered about here, there and everywhere around the world. It had been hours since Fury had given the orders and still agents were scrambling around trying to find a certain super powered God of Mischief as he ran off with the most incredible piece of energy ever seen on this planet, no wait this universe, in his possession.

"You ready?" he asked as his target made their way over to him.

"Yes. Thank you" a young girl's voice answered him from behind the pulled up hood.

"I'll debrief you in the car" Coulson muttered as he helped her put her suitcase in the boot of the empty car before helping her into the front passenger seat.

"I saw what happened" the girl murmured as Coulson made to strap himself into the driver's seat and turn on the ignition.

"We figured you did. Considering you tried to warn us beforehand" Coulson nodded

"Tried and failed." the girl sighed heavily as she looked out the window to the now slightly grey sky as the first rays of light began to slip over the horizon. "If I had been able to warn you all sooner you all might have avoided such a catastrophe."

"Maybe…" Coulson's eyes hardened as they made to stop at a red light. "But either way I still think that Loki wouldn't miss the opportunity to destroy something"

"Well he is the god of Mischief" The girl snorted "Though he does have a good heart deep down, creating havoc is the _obligation_ of his title, just as mine was to keep an eye on him…though I think it's safe to say I failed at that particular task."

"I wouldn't beat myself up about it if I were you" Coulson tried to give a comforting smile but it only came out as a grimace. "Even if we had wanted to move the Tesseract to a safer position, Loki would have still found another way to find it. But what's done is done, and all we can do now is make sure we get that cube back before Loki does anything else with it. That's why Fury wants me to bring you to the base"

"I see" the girl sighed once more running a hand over her head finally dropping back her grey hood.

A mass of blonde curls shimmered in the passing street lights as a pair of bright blue eyes bored into both hers and Coulson's reflections in the rear-view mirror.

Coulson gulped and refocused his gaze upon the road in front of his eyes.

"I know you and Loki have got a …um…_unusual_ history" he mumbled his cheeks turning a little pink as her gaze on him turned hard "but that's exactly why we need you to help us. You're the only one apart from Thor, who actually _knows_ him through and through. If anyone has a chance of finding him it would be you."

"Don't try to hide it from me Son of Coul" The girl rolled her eyes scathingly "I'm not your average agent. I know Fury wants me to be the bargaining chip for the Tesseract"

"Lifa" Coulson sighed heavily as they stopped at a red light but Lifa shook her head.

"No I'm sorry, please forgive my rudeness. Ever since that vision I have been…restless…Loki…all this time I thought he was lost in that void…"

"I think he still is" Coulson murmured quietly "But from what I've seen in my line of work, there is no such thing as a no win scenario. Who knows, you might just be the right person to be able to bring him back to what he was"

Lifa folded her arms shutting her eyes as she finally felt the full blast of warm light hit her face as the full circle of the sun finally rose over the distant horizon.

"So what's going to happen now? Loki's not just got Clint but Erik as well. It won't be long till he finds the connection between him and Thor. And I shudder to think of what he might do to Jane and Darcy when he finds out that I'm-"

"Don't worry, we're figuring something out for them. They should be in safe location by midnight tomorrow." Coulson then looked at her side on with a small frown "…I know it's an odd question, but if Loki is your…um…your boyfriend…lover or whatever, why are you so keen on helping us to take him down?"

"I don't want to _take him down_" Lifa snapped "I just don't want the man I love to hurt innocent people…or to hurt himself…"

Coulson opened his mouth to speak but then shut it quickly, swallowed and then said.

"You can sleep if you want. We've got a bit of a drive to the airfield"

"Airfield? I thought we were going to go to the base?" Lifa frowned in confusion

"We are…but our base isn't exactly on normal ground…" and at this Coulson smirked "actually now that I think about it, it's not really on any ground"

"Then where is it?"

"Currently it's in the water."

"Oh" Lifa nodded as understanding dawned "Another one of your airships then?"

"Close enough" Coulson shrugged. Two years ago he would have chuckled at the young girls choice of words, but now he knew better than to do so. He'd seen her throw down men and women double her size and or with years more experience all within ten seconds of them entering the training ring.

He supposed it was one of the perks of that Asgardian heritage of hers. From what Lifa had told them about her people, Asgardians not only had magic or extremely extended lifespans (Not immortal as he had once believed), but they also had at least double the speed and agility as well as triple the strength of an average human. And whilst Lifa had often told Coulson and Fury, that she was considered rather physically meek by the standards of her people, they were willing to bet that Loki wasn't.

There were only two beings of Earth that Coulson knew that had enough raw power alone to take on such a force but still it was good to have a person like

There was a buzzing on the touch screen on the dashboard and Coulson quickly picked up the call.

"_Coulson have you got the girl"_

"I'm right here!" Lifa groaned as she curled up into her car seat and laid her head on the door beside her.

"_Any troubles?_"

"Not so far" Coulson quickly checked one of his wing mirrors nervously. "I've already debriefed her. We're making our way to the airfield now"

"_Good_" Fury sounded relieved "Lifa you must listen carefully. We have reason to believe that Barton might try to contact you so if you have any device that can be traced like your cell phone make sure it is shut it off"

"Already done" Lifa grunted fingering the smart phone in her hoody pocket. It had taken her a long while to get used to the little machine. But now she found it was quite ingenious and enjoyable, much like most other devices of Midgard she was learning to use. She was now even proficient enough to use what humans called a laptop computer, though that was currently sitting switched off in her suitcase in the boot of the car.

Allowing the conversation between the director and she agent to just wash over her.

She quickly looked down to where a golden bracelet glowed brightly in its place and quickly shut her eyes to see the faces of several strange people flash over her mind's eye.

_A blonde man with a straight face set in a determined gaze._

_A man with dark hair and a beard with a strange glowing circle in his chest, looking curiously over something she couldn't see._

_Another man with a meek humble appearance wearing glasses quietly assessing a woman with short red hair and scrutinising eyes._

They were all faces she knew…though she had never officially met any of them.

_So…we're all being summoned…but… I'm not a warrior…not a monster…not an inventor… nor a spy…how on earth could I even dream of being part of such a team?_

She shut her eyes and curled in tighter upon herself in her seat as she tried her best to dispel the images from her mind's eye only for another, very familiar, face to emerge.

_Oh Thor…why did you have to leave me behind?_

* * *

It was with weary eyes that King Odin forced himself to look down upon Heimdall as the gatekeeper stood before him in front of his grand dais.

Beside him on his right his queen Frigga stood, equally tired but more worried, whilst to his left Thor's face was unnaturally grim.

"What news do you bring to us at this late hour Heimdall?"

"My king, your majesties" Heimdall looked at all three Royals, his fiery orange and golden eyes stern. "I bear urgent news from Midgard, news regarding the princess"

Odin's heads snapped up at once as Thor asked in a slightly trembling voice.

"What's wrong Heimdall? Is she alright? Is she hurt?"

"No, but nor is she safe either" the gatekeeper then took a incredibly deep breath as if he was really reluctant to say anymore but was going to do so anyway. "For your younger son Loki has arrived on Earth to seek his revenge"

"NO… That cannot be!" Frigga clapped a hand to her mouth.

"I'm afraid it is so my queen" Heimdall turned his head down to the floor in sadness "but that is not all, he has obtained a very powerful artefact from the humans. One which we thought was lost to us millennia ago… the Tesseract"

Odin's face paled quicker than a heartbeat, but he still was silent with shock.

"Do you know what he aspires to use this _Tesseract_ for?" Odin asked Heimdall quickly.

"From what I have seen and heard he plans to use the Tesseract to summon an army from another realm to aid him in his conquest over Earth."

"And what Jane? What of Lifa?" Thor asked with a small gulp as both his parents looked at him with raised eyebrows.

"Jane is being taken to safety as we speak. But as for your sister…She is currently on her way to help the humans of SHIELD track down Loki. But she feels that she is not ready to fight a war."

"And she isn't" Frigga cried out indignantly her eyes wide and fearful as she looked at her husband "Odin we must do something! She must be so scared! We must find a way to bring her back! She's not going to be able to cope with thi-"

"Forgive me Mother" Thor stepped forwards "but I'm afraid I must disagree"

"Thor?" Odin was surprised to see his eldest son's eyes burn with fierce pride.

"You did not see Lifa when she came to earth to retrieve me from my exile. You did not see her against the Destroyer. She fought like a warrior worthy of the house of Odin. She is stronger than she looks, far stronger than any of us had believed. If anyone would be equipped to fight a war it would be her. Though I do agree that we cannot allow her to face Loki on her own"

"Then what would you suppose we do?" Odin asked him patiently.

"Let me go back down to earth to find her and fight alongside her. She will trust me like the humans would, and we could work together to figure out how to stop Loki as peacefully as we can. Then maybe I could bring her back…bring her home…bring both of them home"

But Odin Shook his head slightly.

"It has been two years now and yes Lifa has so far managed to survive and thrive on her own without us. Such a feat cannot be achieved by those of little will or strength. But I must agree with my queen when I say that unlike you she has very little experience with true warfare and battles of such magnitude"

"But she knows how to wield a sword," Thor straightened up, unafraid "and she bears the Gullhringr. If it is warfare she needs tutoring in then I shall teach her"

Odin and Frigga both stared at their son in amazement. Ever since his return from Earth he had been growing steadily as a person. He still had his moments of stubborn pride but those were now growing fewer and farther apart. But now it was like his growth had leapt and bounded over another hurdle.

Odin couldn't help but smile.

"Years ago if someone had told me that my eldest son would be speaking such words I would have locked him up for fear they'd gone mad. But now I hear your wisdom, and I believe that you are right. You may go to Earth tomorrow when you are rested"

"Why not go there now and quicken my search?" Thor narrowed his eyes.

"Because I must make preparations for your departure. Without the Bifrost I will need to summon enough dark energy to send you to earth."

"And what of his return?" Frigga asked sharply

"The Tesseract has the power to open up rifts in space and time" Odin replied patiently. "Once Thor has obtained it, it will be easy to return when its powers are harnessed correctly. But enough talking. Heimdall,"

He turned his attention back to the gatekeeper

"You have done well you may do as you wish. As for you Thor"

And at this Thor stiffened slightly for a moment.

"go and rest, you will need your strength. When you awaken please return here to this Throne room. I will have everything ready for you to leave"

"Thank you father"

Thor sighed and quickly bowed to his father with a relieved smile.

_Do not worry Lifa I shall come to help you as soon as I can…I won't let Loki get to you._

* * *

The underground facility was dank and cold, but busy with life as many people, scientists, guards and technicians alike ran hither and thither about a network of computers and machines.

However in a dark isolated corner Loki sat alone holding tight onto the sceptre. He took a deep breath as the blue gem within the blades glowed softly as a tendril of bluish smoke wafted up and touched his chest.

He shut his eyes as he felt his mind fly away from the damp smell of rock and the underground, and into a clean but empty dark space.

He looked across from himself and saw in the shadows a gaunt figure hunching over from a rock across from where he was sitting.

"The Chitauri grow restless" the figure hissed.

Loki flicked his hand and at once an illusion of his fully armed self glimmered into existence between himself and the hooded figure, who didn't seem alarmed by the presence of the copy. But that was no concern to the god of mischief. His mind may be with them in that dark desolate space but his body was still on earth, the projection was just a means of a visual to his words.

"Let them gird themselves" he snorted proudly "I will lead them in glorious battle"

"Battle" the figure spat disdainfully as it began to pace "Against the meagre might of Earth?"

"Glorious, not lengthy" Loki smirked. "If your force is as _formidable_ as you claim"

"You question us?!" The figure snapped vehemently "You question _him_? He who put the sceptre in your hand? Who gave you ancient knowledge and new purpose when you were cast out, defeated?"

"I was a king!" Loki cried out "A rightful King of Asgard…betrayed…" his voice fell away as his hand felt around in a pocket of his robes for a small folded up slip of paper.

The hooded figure chuckled maliciously under its breath "Your ambition is little, born of childish _need_. We look beyond the Earth to greater worlds the Tesseract will unveil"

"But you don't have the Tesseract yet" Loki murmured quietly.

There was a feral snarling sound as the hooded figure suddenly rushed at him in a blur raising a gnarled six fingered clawed hand to strike at him.

"I do not threaten" Loki muttered not even batting an eye as the hand stopped just barely an inch away from his face. "But until I open the doors, until your force is mine to command, you are but words"

The hooded figure pulled back its hand and took a step back at the green hollow eyes of his co-conspirator. Then he sneered widely as he began to stalk around the trickster, slowly, tantalisingly like a shark around blood in the water.

"You will have your war Asgardian. If you fail, if the Tesseract is kept from us, there will be no realm, no barren moon, no _crevice_ where he cannot find you…or that which you hold _dearest_"

Despite himself Loki stiffened in his spot as he heard faintly from across the shelf of rock, something heavy, slithering and sliding closer. The hooded figure's sneer widened even more as he hissed.

"You think you know pain? He will make you long for something as sweet as pain!"

Loki winced as he felt a hand wrap around his face from behind and at once he snapped his mind back to the physical reality that was Earth.

After a couple of heaving breaths he snarled under his breath.

"That cretin"

But then he suddenly noticed the clenched hand in his pocket.

"No…no-no-no-no-no!"

He roughly pulled out the paper he had from his pocket and quickly made to smooth it out. Though it was expensive stationary it was now worn out from constant handling and now currently it was rumpled like cloth.

Loki sighed with relief as eyes darted over the inky writing in its fluid, beautiful and thankfully un-faded hand.

His eyes were focused especially on the last line

_With love forever and always,_

"And yet you never said goodbye" he murmured softly to himself.

"Ahem" someone coughed.

Loki looked up quickly and saw Barton standing a few feet away.

"What is it?" he spat quickly shoving the small letter back into his pocket and straightening up to stand tall and proud.

Barton however was scowling down at a cell phone in his hands "that friend I told you about is not picking up her phone. Actually she's not picking up anything really"

"I see and is this _friend_ of yours a valuable asset to this cause?" Loki narrowed his eyes dangerously. He'd recruited this man for his talent and his heart, not for him to dawdle about trying to contact a mere woman.

Barton seemed to guess what he was thinking because then he raised his eyebrows.

"Very valuable. She has rather a unique gift that allows her to see things as they truly are. It was quite something."

"And what were these things she would see?"

"The past…the present…occasionally the future…like a seer but less mystical and more hands on. Che!" Barton snorted "but don't let her fool you. She looks pretty as a picture but she's also got an iron fist to match when she is pissed"

"Hmm that is a dangerous combination"

Though he doubted the woman's supposed gift, as humans rarely could connect themselves with the mystic arts, he had to admit it would help to be able to snag another strong warrior, especially one that Barton was comfortable working with. Whilst an army was a good force of strength, two soldiers that worked in perfect tandem could be potentially even more deadly especially in surgical strikes upon the enemy. Plus an attractive woman would provide a nice…_distraction_ from all these emotions.

Loki smirked now with intrigue.

"What is her name?"

"Lifa" Barton shrugged, turning his back on Loki.

The trickster's heart froze in his chest.

"…what did you just say?"

"Her name's Lifa" Barton repeated, not noticing how stricken his face suddenly turned as it drained of all colour and life. "SHIELD found her two years ago when that Thor-guy came down to Earth."

_No…no…it's not possible…I saw her…I saw her…_

"She was too injured to return with him to wherever the hell he came from so we offered to keep watch over her here. Only Thor didn't return. That's why Fury had me looking out for her in secret. Didn't want her falling into the wrong hands"

"I…I see…" Loki's voice wavered for a moment but he was quick to recover himself and cough. "And do you know where this _Lifa_ is **_now_**?"

"New Mexico" Barton nodded and Loki quickly turned away, the ends of his green robes billowing behind him.

"But I wouldn't go looking for her if I were you!" he called out after the Asgardian who stopped mid stride to glare back at him. Not that Barton was afraid. "If she's not responding to my calls then it's safe to say that Fury's already moving her to another location."

"Do you have any ideas of where he might take her?" Loki hissed his hands shaking with suppressed rage.

"Probably to his base of operations so he can personally keep an eye on her" Barton nodded. "But there's hardly a way in hell you're going to be able to extract her without getting yourself captured"

The corners of Loki's mouth twitched upwards ever so slightly.

"Maybe that's exactly what I want."

* * *

ohoho! the plot thickens.

the next chapter will be more interesting as Lifa finally meets some of the Avengers.

will they hit it off or will tensions fly?

Keep Reading and Reviewing for more


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Up Where the Air is Clear**

When Steve Rogers had walked onto the airfield with nothing but the clothes on his back, his duffel bag and the SHIELD escort around him he had been expecting just a small military helicopter to be awaiting him.

Needless to say he was very surprised to see a large black jet land five hundred meters away from him.

"We'll take our leave sir" one of the agents with him flushed a little with excited embarrassment as he turned round to face them.

"Thank you"

He turned back and quickly dashed up the small ramp at the back of the aircraft where a man was waiting for him in a suit.

"Agent Coulson?" Steve asked.

"That's me Captain, come in make yourself at home" Coulson nodded enthusiastically as he stepped back to allow the other man inside.

Steve looked about himself, planes really had changed a fair bit since he had first flown in one in the 1940's. Even military craft such as this was more sturdy and yet very comfortable. Indeed he could see a young woman sitting quite comfortably on one of the seats to the sides behind the cockpit reading a touch screen tablet with intense concentration.

Unlike the other shield agents who were either in jumpsuits or normal suits she was wearing a grey tank top under a canary yellow camisole and with black leggings and boots.

"Ahem" Coulson coughed loudly and the woman looked up

Steve couldn't help but curse himself as he felt his cheeks go slightly pink as a very pretty face framed by curly blonde hair and set with blue topaz eyes looked up at him. For all that Super Serum pumped into his system it had not ever completely cured him of his innate shyness around a pretty woman.

However thankfully he was quick to notice that the woman was really young, probably only in her late teens or early twenties, even though the calm gaze she gave him as she stood up was remarkably strong and piercing indeed. It was almost like she was seeing straight through him.

Well, Steve thought proudly, he was quite sure that he had nothing to hide. Honesty was a value he practiced and prized very highly.

"Steve Rogers this is Lifa, Lifa this is Captain Steve Rogers, and he will be joining us to the Base"

"Pleasure to meet you ma'am" Steve strode forwards putting a hand forwards.

"The honour is all mine Captain Rogers" Lifa took his hand and shook it, though it was a tad bit awkward. She still didn't understand how a handshake could be considered a greeting.

_Odd human customs_

"Umm…" Steve gulped when she didn't let go after a couple of moments.

Then suddenly her eyes widened and she seemed to come back to herself and at once she jumped away from his hand.

"Oh, please do forgive me! I'm still not accustomed to some of um…Earth's customs" she mumbled the last bit with a small gulp and avoided his eye.

"_Earth's_ customs?" Steve frowned a little in confusion.

"Fury will explain everything once we reach base. You might want to strap in now for lift off." Coulson coughed from the side and Lifa looked up gratefully as both she and the Captain made to sit on the same side of the plane with one seat between them.

There was a silence, save for the humming of the plane's engines and the small talking from the pilots in the cockpit as they positioned the aircraft up into the air.

Steve looked beside him quickly at the girl who, whilst not making a sound, had tensed at the sudden incline upwards as the plane ascended into the skies.

When they finally levelled out, they were already flying at top speed over a mass expanse of blue-green ocean.

"Father help me" Lifa murmured under her breath as she gulped down the bile in her throat. She loved flying upon a winged steed when she was in Asgard, but the human airships were simply wretched at take offs and landings.

"First time flying?" Steve asked sympathetically, remembering his first flight as a soldier, how the nerves mixed with the altitude had almost made him sick too.

"Fifteenth time though truth be told I'd much rather prefer a hard road beneath my feet." she sighed as the horrible feeling in her gut subsided after a deep inhale. She quickly then brought up the touch screen tablet from her side on which she pulled up several different scans and images of a glowing blue cube.

"Wait has Fury called you in about the Tesseract too?"

"Yes" Lifa nodded now glaring at the cube in question "I have been asked to…assist SHIELD with locating it"

"Oh so you're a scientist?" Steve's eyebrows rose. This girl couldn't have been more than eighteen and even Fury was calling her in to track down an all-powerful magic cube?

But just as he opened his mouth to ask that Lifa shook her head.

"No…more like a…well…I'm not exactly sure what my profession could be called" she blushed with slight embarrassment. Well she wasn't lying there. From what she'd come to know within the past two years, scrying and magic weren't exactly a part of the usual jobs available to anyone on Earth.

"But I do know that I shall be working alongside Doctor Banner in the pursuit"

"Banner? As in Bruce Banner, the green, big um…"

"Hulk?" Coulson provided helpfully as he got out of his seat "Yeah the same guy"

"However he has been going as you humans would say _cold turkey_? For quite a while" Lifa nodded quickly opening up the doctor's credentials on the pad and handing it over to Steve who was still trying to understand what she meant by "_you humans_".

Was she an alien? And if so how come she looked almost identical to a human? Alright that may have been a pretty narrow minded 1940's perspective on the matter but still…he'd have thought some life on other planets would have looked pretty different, not different and pretty.

He shook off his thoughts as he looked over the files on the living breathing manifestation of Jekyll and Hyde.

As soon as he finished the official report from SHIELD he looked up at Coulson.

"So this Dr Banner was trying to replicate the serum they used on me?"

"A lot of people were" Coulson nodded. "You were the world's first superhero. Banner thought Gamma radiation might hold the key to unlocking Erskine's original formula"

"However fate did not seem to favour him as it did with you" Lifa pursed her lips as she watched from Steve's side a video of the Hulk lashing out at a group of armed men with guns.

"No indeed" Coulson nodded gravely "When he's not that thing though, the guy's like a Stephen Hawking"

"He's a really uh…clever scholarly individual" Lifa smiled patiently as Steve looked around slightly confused. Even though she knew what she had read about this Super-Soldier as Coulson had called him, it still was a huge respite to know that she was not alone in not understanding the world around.

However her relief was soon overcome with amusement as she watched Coulson finally crack from his professional façade only for the excitement of a schoolboy to glimmer in his eyes as he almost bounced in his spot.

"I gotta say" he grinned a little giddily "It's an honour to meet you officially. I've sort of met you. I mean, I watched you while you were sleeping-"

Lifa had to pinch the bridge of her nose to stop herself from exploding with mirth as Steve smiled back up politely at Coulson who winced at his own slip up of words.

"I mean I was present, while you were unconscious from the ice, you know it's really just a huge honour to have you on board this…"

"Expedition?" Lifa supplied helpfully.

Coulson looked back on her with a small glower to which she smirked knowingly with raised eyebrows.

"I hope I'm the right man for the job" Steve muttered his voice grim with nerves and uneasiness.

Through the golden band of the Gullhringr on her wrist Lifa felt his disquiet but she chose not to comment about it. For she herself felt the same. Coulson however seemed to think otherwise.

"Oh you are. Absolutely" he nodded assuringly with determination however that was quick to change into awkwardness "Uh…we made some modifications to the uniform. I had a little, design input"

"The Uniform?" Steve blinked with surprise. He didn't know much about the twenty first century but he was certain that if anyone were to go around dressed as he had done back in his soldiering days it would be nothing short of absurdity and so he said:

"Aren't the stars and stripes a little…old fashioned?"

"With everything that's happening, everything that's about to come to light. People might just need a little old fashioned" Coulson exchanged a quick glance with Lifa whose gaze hardened as she made to look at the touch pad once more.

Steve quickly took note of this exchange as he looked between the two. However nothing more was said on the matter.

He quickly made to sit down beside Lifa again noticing that she was stiff and tense, but not because of the plane's trajectory.

Indeed one look at her face was enough to tell him that she was not trying so hard to not be sick as she was trying hard to not break down.

* * *

"Hey Jane!"

"Yeah?"

"I'm bored"

"Well find something to do?"

"I've tried"

"Then try harder I'm reading."

"Hey where do you think Lifa is?"

The mousy brown head of hair that belonged to Jane Foster suddenly poked up from its spot cocooned within the couch she was curled up in with a book in her lap.

She quickly peered over the top of the upholstery to see her best friend and intern Darcy Lewis trudging towards her with a bag of crisps in one hand and a baleful look over her face.

Jane sighed heavily "I don't know Darcy. But if she's with SHIELD then she's probably somewhere safe"

"Yeah…_probably_ safe and _probably_ not bored" Darcy mumbled as she slumped down on the couch beside her friend's legs.

"Y'know this is the first time she's been called out like this"

"So?" Jane bit her lip.

"So," Darcy swallowed a huge mouthful of crisps in one go "Whatever's goin' down at SHIELD must be pretty big if they need her help."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because' she's not replied to any of my texts" Darcy grumbled "And remember she only said she wouldn't be able to text back unless she was sent on a serious mission?"

"…Yeah...Ok I get it…" Jane murmured worry now settling in. Her intern had a point. Lifa always made it a point to text or chat with them digitally if she was not there with them. It was one of the few rules Jane, Darcy and Erik had established when the young teen had first come to stay with them.

They'd already had so many problems dealing with Thor's wanderings and they didn't want another repeat of that again. However, thankfully, Lifa was more cautious and more aware of her surroundings than her brother had been and so it had been easy to get her to adapt to Earth life, even if some metaphors and phrases still went over her head.

Then suddenly she backtracked on a thought.

"Wait Darcy! Have you heard from Erik recently?!"

* * *

"You ok again?"

Steve Rogers hand hovered in the air as he once again was strapped in on the plane beside a now pale faced Lifa who was trying her best not to focus on the aircraft's descent.

"Yes Captain"

"uh…just call me Steve" Steve coughed as he felt the bottom wheels of the plane touch down.

Gingerly with as much care as he could to not touch her too much he helped Lifa unbuckle herself from the straps and stand up to her feet.

"Thank you" she gulped heavily. "By Valhalla I hate flying in these metal monstrosities." She hissed.

"Well unfortunately we do not have any flying steeds on Earth" Coulson smirked at her as he led them towards the back of the plane which opened up at once to become a ramp.

"Pity" Lifa mumbled under her breath much to Steve's already conflicted thoughts.

_Flying steeds? Valhalla? Just where is this girl from?!_

He quickly shook his head as he and Lifa made to join Coulson at the ramp.

"Stow their gear now" the agent called to another pair of agents in orange jackets over their black jumpsuits who approached them from the outside.

Lifa winced as the sunlight hit her eyes as she looked about herself.

She seemed to be on another airfield; however it could not possibly be on land. For one thing she could see the ocean surrounding them and also there was the distinct smell of salt in the air.

_We're over the seas?!_

"Coulson!" a voice called and Lifa, Coulson and Steve all turned to see a woman stride over towards them. She was wearing an orange T-shirt, dark pants, black leather jacket that made her short dark red curls stand out starkly against her pale beautiful but also stern face.

Lifa felt at one a quiet power from this woman. Not magical, but the way she walked towards them was rather like watching a panther stalk.

"Agent Romanov" Coulson nodded. "This is Captain Rogers and Lifa of Asgard"

"Ma'am" Coulson bobbed his head respectfully as Lifa gave a small uncertain wave.

"Hi" the woman's voice was nonchalant though her blue eyes were piercing as they looked over both the Captain and the young Asgardian, before turning to the SHIELD agent.

"They need you and the girl on the bridge; they're starting the face trace."

"Hey this girl has a name and she's standing right here!" Lifa mumbled under her breath but the woman ignored her, instead giving Coulson a direct look. He sighed heavily.

"Right see you there, this way" he added steering a reluctant Lifa by the shoulder towards a large compound set on the far side of the runway.

Steve watched them as they went his eyes on the back of the girl's head. He didn't understand why but she looked vaguely familiar…especially those eyes. He felt as if he'd seen them before… not in real life, but more from a picture or photograph?

When Coulson and Lifa were far enough away from ear shot of Steve and the woman, Coulson muttered.

"Don't mind Natasha. She's a bit like that with everyone"

"I bet" Lifa muttered darkly "but I guess I shouldn't be surprised. The court of Asgard were very much the same"

"Uh…but weren't you also part of the err…court?" Coulson looked down on her in surprise as he opened the door into the facility for her.

"Not yet. Only when I come of age will I officially be a member of the court" Lifa shrugged "I mean, don't misunderstand me, they still would have to bow to me and respect me…not that they saw any real reason to"

"Why wouldn't they have any reason to respect you?" Coulson blinked, a little puzzled. "You're they're princess"

"Yes a princess who was kept in the Palace most of her life and had never done a great deed" Lifa rolled her eyes. "Save a few close friends of my brothers and parent's, the rest of those pigs only bootlick to my face only to whisper behind my back when it's turned."

"Sounds like a rather nasty crowd" Coulson whistled under his breath. Boy for a young person she sure sounded rather bitter.

"You learn to ignore them" Lifa shrugged but her eyes suddenly became sombre "Though I shudder to think of what return I will come back to."

"What do you mean?" Coulson asked worriedly.

"I was…_involved_ with Loki" Lifa's face was tense "So unless my parents have managed to keep the whole thing quiet…well let's just say that my chances at courtship will be very much diminished"

"And would you like to…um court anyone else other than him if and when you return?" Coulson suddenly felt his cheeks go pink with embarrassment. He still could not believe that this sweet young girl had once been involved with a guy like Loki. It was almost disturbing.

"I'll wait and see what time may tell." Lifa smiled noticing his awkwardness "forgive me I did not mean to make you feel uncomfortable"

"No-no it's ok." Coulson assured her quickly. "Besides something tells me you needed to get that out of your system"

"That is true" Lifa nodded but then stopped short as she and Coulson stepped through a pair of large automatic doors.

They were standing at a platform where a large table was set with several chairs around it so that the people sitting could oversee the level below where on a large floor were many, many computer stations which were being filled by busy agents. In the opposite wall a great big series of windows were set to let in the view of the clouds and the open skies as the ocean glimmered in the sunlight beneath them.

Wait beneath them?

"Are we…are we up in the air?!" Lifa cried out running to the railing of the upper platform where a small station with touch screens were positioned almost like how a ship wheel would be positioned at the helm of a boat.

"Didn't notice that till now did you?" a man's voice smirked and at once she turned to see the dark form of Director Fury walking up from a set of stairs beside her.

"Fury" she nodded suddenly switching to a more professional tone of voice.

"Princess" he nodded back before turning to face the windows. "I trust your trip was uneventful?"

"For the most part" Lifa nodded also turning her gaze to the sky outside. "A couple of visions in my sleep, but nothing major. Loki's with the Tesseract"

"Is there a way for you to track his co-ordinate's from here?"

Lifa shook her head.

"No I cannot. He seems to be using some rather powerful magic. Had he been above ground, the spell's magical field would have made it easier to trace it down."

"How so?" Fury narrowed his one good eye down at the younger girl.

"Loki is a smart man, not just in the ways of lore but in crafty and strategic thinking" Lifa sighed heavily as she tried to remember her tutor's exact words "From what I have been able to gather from the small images, he seems to be underground-"

"And like a cell phone you can't pick up a signal from such a place." Fury finished for her nodding gravely.

"Forgive me if my results are not exactly the stellar standard they usually are" Lifa muttered a little sarcastically.

"We still have a long way to go" Fury stated calmly "don't worry we'll still find use of your visions yet"

"I figured as much" Lifa turned round to stride towards the table behind the Director just as Steve, Natasha and another man with dark hair and eyes wearing a brown suit walked in.

She nodded at Steve who nodded back, before turning to the new stranger who gave her a meek and nervous smile.

"Gentleman," Fury turned back to the table as Steve made to walk past him handing him a small ten dollar note.

Lifa wondered as Fury smirked before walking over to the stranger in brown.

"Doctor Thank you for coming" he extended a welcoming hand to Bruce who took it gingerly for a moment before quickly letting go.

"And thank you for asking _nicely_"

_Wow what kind of summoning did they send for you?_

Lifa thought with intrigue as she watched the exchange unfold.

"So how long am I staying?"

"Once we get our hands on the Tesseract, you're in the wind" Fury said calmly before gesturing to Lifa who recognised the summons at once and stepped forwards.

"This is Lifa. She'll also be part time helping you in search for the Tesseract."

"Hello" Bruce nodded a little shyly.

"Hello Doctor Banner" Lifa smiled back as welcomingly as she could because some of the guards that stood around the edges looked rather uncomfortable with the man's presence.

"I hear you're the best in your field"

"Uh …I'm not sure about the best." Bruce Banner quickly looked down at his shoes.

"So what is your area of expertise?"

"The past, present and future" Lifa explained blankly trying to make light of herself as much as possible because she felt like dragons were roaring in her stomach. She'd rarely told many people about her powers save for Fury, Coulson, Clint, Erik, Jane and Darcy and even then she usually kept most things about her abilities quiet.

Bruce almost laughed but he didn't when he saw the slightly serious look in Lifa's bright blue eyes.

"I assume you've heard of the situation in New Mexico two years ago." Fury raised his eyebrows.

"Yes?" Bruce gulped nervously Steve himself looked up from his spot at Fury's personal computer station with interest.

"Lifa is one of the Asgardians that came to Earth to help fight the machine that was laying waste to a small town. However she was injured in the attempt and had to be left behind on Earth for her recovery. Apart from her extensive combat abilities she possesses a rare power to see reality in space and time. As our known enemy Loki is of Asgardian origin's himself we thought it…necessary to make sure all our bases were covered in our search"

"Fair enough" Bruce nodded "But if you have _magic_ then why do you need me?"

"Because even magic still has its limits as do those who wield it" Lifa answered patiently "And whilst I am a practitioner of sorcery myself, Loki also knows how to wield it quite extensively"

"So does that mean he's blocking you? Because if so at least we can rule out some kind of methods of searching" Bruce frowned but it was more out of contemplation than irritation Lifa smirked. Thank goodness he was actually taking her abilities seriously. But then again he was the man that could transform into a…well…

She quickly snapped back to attention as Bruce asked both her and Fury.

"What else have we got to work with?"

"We're sweeping every wirelessly accessible camera on the planet" came Coulson's voice from the lower platform as he stood over two agents furiously working away at their computers.

"Cell phones, laptop's, if it's connected to a satellite, it's eyes and ears for us"

"That's still not going to find them in time" Natasha piped in from where she was standing beside another manned computer and flicking through Clint Barton's file.

Lifa felt her gut burn slightly as she remembered Loki pressing his sceptre against her friend's chest, the way his eyes had turned blue. Lost in her own musings she almost missed Bruce's next suggestion.

"You have to narrow your field, how many spectrometers do you have access to?"

"How many are there?" Fury raised an eyebrow.

"Call every lab you know, tell them to put the spectrometers on the roof and calibrate them for gamma rays. I'll rough out a tracking algorithm, basic cluster recognition. At least we could rule out a few places. Do you have somewhere for me to work"

He smiled politely up at Fury who called out.

"Agent Romanoff, could you show Doctor Banner to his laboratory please. No Lifa you stay here"

Fury quickly grabbed Lifa's arm to hold her back as Natasha hastily made to escort Bruce back through the doors.

"You're gonna love it doc we've got all the toys"

"Nice meeting you" Bruce nodded back at Lifa who nodded back.

"Same here doctor" then suddenly she rounded on Fury, blue eyes flashing "What is it that you want from me this time Fury?"

"What I want," Fury hissed quietly "Is for you to keep a level head. Now your friends Jane and Darcy are safe, however we have reason to believe that Clint has been sent to take a sweep of the lab in New Mexico. So if you want to contact the both of them you'll have to wait for another few hours till we can establish an untraceable contact detail for you."

"Thank you" Lifa mumbled quietly as her arm was let go of.

"Good." Fury sighed "Now I know I said you were going to help Banner, but you're also going to be helping Rogers in the field. If and when you need to suit up just follow Hill, she'll take you to your gear and weapons which are in your room."

"Alright" Lifa nodded as Fury turned his back on her to go back down to the lower platform.

She watched him go for a moment before looking back over the entire floor.

Everyone seemed busy. Everything seemed good now that they had a plan…and yet…

She felt a small twinge in her head and she groaned under her breath

"Great"

* * *

"Put it over there!"

Erik Selvig was ecstatic as he bounced around the metal machine which he was working on. He grinned as several people made to carry the equipment he'd just pointed to just exactly where he wanted it.

"Where did you find all these people?" he turned to Clint who was standing outside the makeshift plastic room with a tablet in his hand.

"SHIELD has no shortage of enemies Doctor. Is this what you need?" He turned the tablet around so that Erik could see a picture of a mass of a metallic compound.

"Yeah, Iridium." Erik nodded "It's found in meteorites and form's anti-protons. It's very hard to get hold of"

"Especially if SHIELD knows you need it" Clint smirked down at the screen where he pulled up a blueprint of a building.

"Well I didn't know. HEY!" Erik announced excitedly as the tall thin figure of Loki came prowling out from the shadows.

"The Tesseract has shown me so much. It's more than knowledge…it's truth"

"I know" Loki smirked turning to Clint who fixed him with a resolute gaze of his own, a soldier waiting to strike.

_Good he's ready…_

"What did it show you Agent Barton?"

"My next target" the agent answered blankly.

"Tell me what you need." Loki watched as the man made to walk over to a case which he quickly opened up to reveal a long sturdy black bow.

"I need a Distraction. And an eyeball"

"Very well" Loki grinned. Finally all the pieces were coming together.

* * *

Ok so I think you guys can see the image coming to gether a little bit. the next chapter's going to be pretty interesting i promise ;)

Keep Reading And Reviewing for more :)


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: An Unexpected Reunion**

"Whoa! Hey you ok?" Bruce Banner's words cut through Lifa's head like a knife to butter.

It was night time now. Lifa and Bruce had both been working around the clock in the lab trying to scan in their own special ways for signs of Loki or the Tesseract.

Surprisingly Lifa found the Doctor to be a most enjoyable companion. He didn't treat her like how the other older human people around her usually did. Nor did he treat her like a royal pampered princess. Once she had shown him proof of her powers, for example the glowing amber rings through which she used to scry; he genuinely respected her for what she could do as a qualified person in her field.

Indeed it was thanks to her abilities that he was now able to calibrate one of the scanners in the lab to search for a specific wave pattern that was distinctive to mystic energy.

He also was not judgemental about the way she responded to certain things because of the Gullhringr around her wrist. He of all people knew what it was like to be host to another sentience within his own mind and soul, albeit a violent one. In truth Lifa felt that he actually was rather relieved by the fact that there was someone else who understood something of what he was going through.

Which is why he was so concerned when his new lab-mate suddenly grunted in pain and clutched at her forehead.

"I'm ok…" Lifa shut her eyes as she made to sit down in one of the chairs provided for the both of them in the lab. "Just a vision"

"Do they usually hurt like this?" Bruce handed her a small plastic cup of water which she gratefully took.

"Depends on the importance of what I'm seeing" Lifa explained after a gulp. By Odin that water was heaven sent.

"So on a scale of one to ten how important is this one?" Bruce asked gulping slightly. He could feel his heart rate accelerate slightly as worry took him. Maybe he should call for help? If things got too stressful god knows what the other guy would do and he didn't want to hurt the girl.

"It's probably an eight" Lifa groaned slumping in her seat. "h-help me to the floor. It'll be easier once I lie down"

"Ok…" Bruce agreed amazed at how hardy she was being in spite of the obvious great discomfort she was clearly experiencing.

"Right so what happens now?" he asked as he crouched next to where the young girl was laying she was flat on her back on the floor.

"Just do what you normally do. If I scream just call for somebody else." She shrugged shutting her eyes.

"OK…then…" Bruce stepped up but kept his eyes on her as she seemed to slip away.

_It was night…she was walking along a road at night. She was in the middle of an Earth city, in front of a large building with columns with red carpets set about in front of it that were lit by bright lights overhead. Pair by pair people walked along it jabbering away. She couldn't make out what they were saying. Most of the talk was in a foreign language though she caught snippets of English, namely greetings that went along with fake smiles._

_Amongst them a man slid through the crowd. He had shoulder length slicked back raven hair that matched the shade of the tailored suit he wore whilst the green scarf around his neck made his pale skin and his equally green eyes pop._

Despite her growing dread Lifa felt her cheeks heat up slightly. She inwardly cursed herself for her response to Loki's appearance and tried as quickly as she could to refocus on his image as he slipped into the building, a golden cane with a blue stone at the top in his hands.

"What?! That can't be it?" she muttered as the image faded before her eye as quickly as it had come.

"Is it over already?" Bruce raised his eyebrows in surprise. He'd been expecting a long struggle with a crazy writhing beast of a girl.

But Lifa was quick to sit up rubbing her head and frowning.

"Yeah…but wherever Loki is he's definitely not underground anymore"

"Do you know where?"

"No…not really. And I couldn't see any signs of any language so there was no clue" Lifa sighed shaking her head. "but if he is disguised as a human it might be easy for the _face trace_ device to find him"

_But that can't be right_

Lifa thought biting her lip. If Loki really wanted to keep the Tesseract hidden till it was ready to be used, wouldn't he also stay underground? Unless he was separated from the mystic cube?

_Maybe he's taking a break_

Lifa thought wildly, but even then she knew it was stupid. Her Loki, take a break from something he had his heart set on, it was absolutely preposterous.

_My Loki…_

She thought her face falling slightly but before she could ponder it anymore there was the hiss of the automatic door opening.

"Hey" Lifa looked up and saw Natasha Romanoff stride towards her decked out in a tight fitted dark grey stealth suit, her beautiful face set in a grim expression.

"Dr Banner do you mind if we borrow your new friend for a moment?"

"Um…sure…if she's alright with it?" said doctor quickly glanced at said new friend who was getting to her feet from the floor. "Lifa you ok to go?"

"Yes I'll be fine" Lifa smiled at Bruce before turning back to Natasha. "You found Loki then?"

Natasha nodded, not really caring for how she guessed, because she already had a faint idea.

"Yeah. Fury wants you and the Cap to suit up and fly out. You do have a suit right?" the spy quirked a brow.

"Of Course" Lifa smirked flicking her hands up and clicking her fingers. In a glimmer of golden light her clothes at once began to morph from the tank top, camisole and leggings.

Both Natasha's and Bruce's eyebrows rose high on their brows as suddenly the girl before them reappeared from the golden glow.

Her golden curls were tied up behind her head and she was wearing a light yellow tunic with a golden breastplate over the top, however, instead of just the leggings she now wore beneath the whole ensemble a black stealth suit black leggings and boots. Her x shaped swords holster too was slightly different as the swords within them were now katanas that SHIELD had provided for her. They were the only swords she found she liked, light perfectly balanced and by far the strongest of all the human swords she could use.

"Follow me" Natasha's voice was quiet as she turned her back on the room.

Lifa quickly waved goodbye to Bruce before following the woman out of the room.

_Loki just what are you up to?_

* * *

Several screams echoed around the main room of the museum.

Loki grinned as he watched more than fifty people's horrified faces screech as they moved away from himself and his prey that he had pinned with only his elbow to the sacrificial table shaped like a Cretan Bull.

The man beneath his hold writhed and shrieked as the device over his face suddenly shot out with blade like prongs and snatched at one of his eyes, sucking at it…devouring it.

Loki felt derisive pleasure as the man's body suddenly went limp as the last breath gasped out of him.

He'd barely been under such pain for a minute and already he was dead from shock?

_Mortals truly are the weaker species…_

He thought as he savagely wrenched the now blood covered device from the man's dead face. He tossed it aside and stalked away from the table, which finally after hundreds of years had once more served its purpose.

It was a fitting notion, Loki thought quickly chancing a glance back at the table before striding out into the open night air.

He inhaled deeply, smelling that fresh Earthy scent of the planet about him. He had to admit it's natural beauty was quite extraordinary even if its inhabitants were not deserving of it.

He gripped the Sceptre in his hands and at once his whole body shone for a moment as his dark green, black and golden armour manifested into being.

As he crossed the asphalt street he heard the siren of a police car on its way and indeed as he turned his head to the right he caught sight of the wailing flashing vehicle speeding down the road towards him. Deftly he twirled his sceptre in his hand and a burst of bright blue energy surged and hit the vehicle with a loud bang that sent it flipping over onto the roof and crashing loudly.

People who caught sight of this instantly made to run with the rest of the crowd in terror, a lot of them running towards the small garden like square for safety.

_Well I can't have that now can I?_

Loki smirked and with a small twirl of his hand by his side a replica of himself manifested into existence at the back of the crowd so that they all stopped in their frantic attempts to escape.

"Kneel before me!" he snarled but the humans only made to screech in terror and run towards the sides.

Another couple flicks of his wrist and two more doppelgangers emerged, corralling the crowd so that they now were bunched up together before him as he roared.

"I said…KNEEL!" he and his illusions all hit the end of the sceptre against the road, the sound strangely managing to echo over the top of the frantic scrabbling and panicking.

Not caring if they were friends or strangers, many people exchanged fearful glances with one another as they silently and slowly brought themselves to their knees before the man.

There was a moment of silence as Loki smirked, gloatingly as he witnessed his powers of oppression in effect.

"Is not this…simpler?" he opened up his arms in what would have been a jovial gesture had it not been for the wicked gleam in his hungry eyes as he made to walk into the crowd.

"Is this not your natural state? It's the unspoken truth of humanity, that you crave subjugation. The bright lure of freedom diminishes your life's joy in a mad scramble for power. For identity…In the end…you will always kneel"

But even as he looked down upon his subjects there was the rustling of material. Loki's snapped up to see the sight of an old man in a long brown coat, who was standing up from amongst the kneeling crowd.

"Not to men like you" he said, glaring defiantly at the God of Mischief who chuckled with amusement.

"There are no men like me"

But the old man shook his head.

"There are always men like you."

Loki's smile never faded from his face even as his eyes narrowed into dangerous slits. He raised the sceptre up to point at the old man.

"Look to your elder people…let him be an example" and with that he fired.

_CLANG!_

Loki winced as the sound of his magic hitting something metal reverberated around the entire area, resonating loudly in both his eardrums. He was so disoriented for a moment that he barely saw the blue energy he'd fired ricocheted off a circular shield and speed back towards him.

It was only when it hit him squarely in the chest and sent him splat face first onto the ground that he realised his mistake and at once his head snapped up as a loud voice announced in a defined American accent.

"You know, the last time I was in Germany, and saw a man standing above everybody else, we ended up disagreeing"

_Well, well, well what do we have here?_

There, standing in all the glory of the blue and red and white stripes and the star on his chest was… Captain America…

"The Soldier," Loki spat in disdain getting up to his feet. "A man out of time"

"I'm not the one who's out of time" Captain America narrowed his eyes just as something large and black zoomed in from above. Loki squinted…it looked like a helicopter…no it looked too advanced for an average human contraption.

_So…SHIELD has finally decided to come out and play_

Loki smirked scathingly as he saw a massive gun extend down from the air vehicles underbelly just as a woman's voice echoed from a megaphone.

"_Loki, drop the weapon and stand down_"

But Loki only grinned.

Finally his plan could be put in motion.

_But before that let's have a little fun_

Deftly in one hand he aimed his staff up to the sky and fired a shot. But it missed as the pilot managed to manoeuvre the aircraft out of the way, just as Captain America flung his shield.

Natasha watched as Loki and Captain America made to fight with one another in the middle of the street, people running hither and thither about them in a mad attempt to escape.

_Ouch that has got to hurt._

The Black Widow winced a little as she manoeuvre the plane's gun around. From what Lifa had been able to tell her the spy now knew that even with the big gun strapped to the bottom of the air craft Loki's armour would still prevent him from being blasted to death. But it still would be capable of knocking him out for just enough time to cuff him and haul his ass back to base.

"The guy's all over the place" she murmured as the younger girl made to lean between her and the co-pilot.

"Probably for the best" Lifa mumbled much to the spy's surprise "if Loki's not kept busy in hand to hand combat then he would have summoned his illusions and your gun wouldn't know which copy to hit"

"True" Natasha nodded, but her eyes still narrowed as Loki made to fling the captain away hard to the floor before striking him with the ends of the sceptre as he struggled on the ground.

"I'm going down there" Lifa growled unable to take any more of watching this. "open the back"

She didn't want Loki to get hurt but neither could she sit around and watch him kill a good warrior like Steve.

"If you go down there, he's going to snatch you for good" Natasha called quickly trying to turn around in her seat as Lifa made her way the hangar doors at the back. She wheeled about to face the other woman her eyes blazing.

"Listen I know I'm not a specially trained agent like you are but believe me when I say that I'm perhaps the only thing that's going to keep Loki from killing Captain Rogers. So unless you want to lose your best Super Soldier you will open the doors and let me help him right this instant!"

There was a silence but after a moment of thought Natasha gave a solid nod.

But just as she made to type in the sequence to open up the back hangar doors loud rock music began to blare through the plane's speaker system.

"Agent Romanoff" a man's voice suddenly spoke sounding smug "You miss me?"

Lifa watched astounded just as Natasha rolled her eyes at the plane's monitor where a red screen flashed on with text saying in big bold letters.

_P.A. Systems Override_

"Err…did you call for back up?" Lifa asked as the rock music became steadily louder.

"Nope" Natasha sighed with exasperation "Especially not from Tony Stark"

Captain America and Loki were just in the middle of an intense struggle when they heard the loud ACDC music blare out from a distance.

_What the?_

The captain squinted as he caught sight of a metallic glowing blur that hurtled through the air around a building straight towards the square he was currently facing his opponent off in.

Loki narrowed his eyes warily but before he could do anything he was suddenly blasted by a burst of bright white hot energy that hit him squarely in the chest, throwing him back several feet in the air before landing painfully on his back on a small set of steps.

"Make your move Reindeer games" Tony Stark's voice spoke through the Iron Man helmet as he pointed his hands so that the repulsors on his suits palms were pointed directly at his target.

"Mr Stark" Captain America nodded to the man in the suit who nodded back at him arms still raised to strike at a moment's notice.

"Captain"

Loki narrowed his eyes, his grip on his sceptre tightening. This man, no these two mortal men dare strike him down?

But even as he made to twitch it in his hands he heard a voice call out from behind the two heroes.

"Wait Stop!"

"…Lifa?" Loki breathed as he saw in the gap between Iron Man and Captain America a girl with blonde curls running towards them in yellow and black with golden armour, a golden band about her wrist.

"Whoa stay back!" Captain America quickly yelled putting an arm out to stop Lifa as she ran up towards them.

"Who's this?" Iron Man asked the captain utterly perplexed but Lifa only ignored him, her eyes set on Loki's face, glistening with unshed tears of relief, joy and sadness all melting into one

"Loki" she panted "Loki don't fight anymore. Please don't."

Loki stared up at her his eyes going slightly dazed. He'd knew she was alive already and yet to hear her voice live and in person like this, it was almost too much for him to take.

_She's really here…she's really alive…_

Iron Man and Captain America's eyebrows both rose in astonishment, though the former's could not be seen behind the metal mask in front of his face, as the God of Mischief slowly made to magically transform back into his black and green robes, the sceptre in his hands disappearing into thin air.

Iron Man quickly lowered his gauntlets down and Captain America quickly let Lifa go, seeing as there was going to be no more trouble. However he was still very much alarmed to see her rush over to Loki who stiffened at once as her arms wrapped around his neck.

"…I don't know about you Cap but I think I'm missing a few things here"

But Captain America did not say a word. He only watched closely as he saw Loki's hands, so resolute when wielding his weapons against him, now tremble as they made to envelope the girl holding onto him.

So that's why Lifa had been so uncomfortable about taking Loki into custody.

His gaze softened as he heard a soft snivel from the girl as she buried her face into their enemies shoulder. He supposed he should have been angry that this piece of information had been withheld from the start, but even as he thought back he could not find it in himself to feel angry, at least not towards her. She genuinely seemed focused on helping SHIELD with saving the world from Loki's plans no matter how much she seemed to care for him.

Even the super soldier had to admit it took guts to be able to keep going in spite of all that confusion. Though he had to wonder what it was in the madman that the girl could possibly find to love.

Loki, meanwhile didn't care if he had spectators. He also didn't care that he was on pathetic Earth anymore, that he had a duty to the Chitauri army or to the Tesseract. His only wish was that he never had to let go of the warm, soft body that was currently enveloping him with tender affection.

However like all his hopes and wishes so far, this dream had to be slashed when Captain America reached forwards and put a hand on the back of Lifa's shoulder.

"I'm sorry Lifa, but we need to get a move on"

His voice was gentle much to Iron Man's surprise but the genius metal suited hero stepped back patiently and watched as Lifa carefully extracted herself from Loki. He stayed silent but kept his gaze solely fixed on her as she moved away to allow Captain America to step forwards.

When he brought out a pair of connected braces from a clip on his belt the trickster smirked.

"You should've let her put them on instead"

"Hey! Hey keep it PG 13 rated would you" Iron Man narrowed his eyes under the helmet as he made his way over to Lifa who's tear stained face had flushed a deep red.

Captain America glared with disgust at Loki just as the plane made to land right beside them.

* * *

"Is he saying anything?"

"Not a word" Natasha growled under her breath into the radio as she glanced over her shoulder to the back cargo bay of the plane where Loki sat still cuffed around his arms staring at Lifa who sat by the wall opposite him, Tony Stark and Steve Rogers keeping tabs over both of them from the back of the cockpit.

The spy rolled her eyes with irritation as Director Fury commanded sternly from his end back at base.

"Just get him here we're low on time"

As the director's line cut off Steve muttered to Tony.

"I don't like it"

"What? Rock of Ages giving up so easily?" Tony snorted under his breath.

"I don't remember it being that easy…this guy packs a wallop" Steve glanced at Loki who ignored him, still staring at Lifa.

"You should've led with the girl" Tony muttered looking at said girl as she made to grip the sides of her seat hard. "Still it could've been worse. And you are pretty spry for an older fellow. What's your thing Pilates?"

He looked at Steve who stared at him in confusion.

"What?"

"It's like calisthenics" Tony shrugged "You might have missed a couple of things, during your time as a …_Capsicle_"

"Fury didn't tell me he was calling you in" Steve narrowed his eyes at the billionaire who narrowed his own back.

"Yeah there's a lot of things that Fury doesn't tell you"

Lifa rolled her eyes as both men made to glare at each other.

Just what they needed. Two men with matching power and egos head butting each other like a pair of combating alpha mountain goats.

She heard a soft snicker from across from her and she looked up to see Loki smirking softly and discreetly at her.

"Loki stop it" she growled, pouting angrily, but Loki's grin only seemed to widen. He couldn't help it. She really was here, getting all puffy about him reading her very amusing thoughts.

However before he could open his mouth to speak she winced in pain, a hand flying to her forehead just as something loud crashed from outside the plane.

"Where's this coming from?" Natasha asked a slight pang of worry in her voice. The storm had just suddenly appeared around them, thunder booming even as she and her co-pilot made to readjust the planes settings.

"Wow what _great_ timing"

Lifa grunted sarcastically as her vision cleared sufficiently for her to catch sight of a bolt of lightning flashed in front of the cockpit window. She didn't need a seer's power to know what was happening. She glanced up at Loki and nodded quietly at him with a look of exasperation.

His face paled. There was only one reason she would look so irritated.

"What's the matter scared of a little lightning?" Steve raised his eyebrows at his enemy who straightened up stiffly in his seat.

"I'm not overly fond of what follows" Loki admitted his eyes darting up to the ceiling above even as Lifa counted down under her breath.

"Three, two, one"

_BANG!_

Everyone jumped as something landed right on the topside of the plane, something heavy.

Tony quickly put back on his Iron Man helmet and strode over to a hatch on the side of the plane wall where there was a switch labelled hangar door.

He flipped it and at once the back of the plane opened up.

Lifa would have tried to take off her safety harness from the seats but the plane was currently shaking so badly from turbulence of the storm that she felt too sick to do anything.

And so it was with mounting irritation and bile in her throat that she watched as someone landed in the entrance of the plane with a heavy thud.

Loki's eyes widened in terror as the familiar blonde head of hair and blazing blue eyes looked up at him from a grimly determined face.

There was the thudding of metal on metal and Thor looked up just in time to see Iron Man raise a repulsor up at him. Swiftly he thrust forth a mighty hammer from his palm which landed squarely in the red armoured suited man's stomach, winding him as he crashed into Captain America who in turn landed on his back onto the floor.

Lifa stared in alarm as her brother then looked quickly at her his eyes widening for a moment though quickly softening as he made his way over to her.

"I shall be with you in a moment little sister. Your dear Loki and I must speak. Please mind this for me until I return" he said softly and quickly before she could say a word made to drop something on the seat next to her.

"Thor wait!" Lifa cried out but already Thor had turned to a bewildered Loki and tore him by the scruff of his clothes out of the straps that held him to the seat before gripping him by the throat and leaping out of the hangar door and out into the night, his red cloak disappearing beneath the shadows of the clouds.

"THOR YOU DUNDERHEAD WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Lifa's shout was so loud that both Captain America and Iron man winced as they got up from the floor.

"Whoa there easy tiger! Just take a chill, we'll get your boyfriend back" the man of iron growled as he strode over to the spot that Thor just jumped through with their prisoner, just as Lifa began to curse loudly at the top of her lungs.

"Another Asgardian?" Natasha looked back at the hangar bay. She had missed Thor's appearance, too focused on trying to keep this craft airborne and everyone alive.

"Hang on _that's_ your brother?" Captain America called to Lifa with wide eyes.

"Doesn't matter" Iron Man called as he approached the edge of the plane. "If he free's Loki or kills him the Tessearact's lost."

"Stark we need a plan of attack!" the Captain called but Iron Man was already prepared to jump off. The edge.

"I have a plan. Attack!"

Lifa winced as with a burst of energy from his palms and feet the man in the suit burst out from the back of the plane and after her brother's trajectory.

"I'd sit this fight out Captain Rogers" she called as she caught sight of the super soldier making to grab a parachute from one of the hangers upper storage units.

"I don't see how I can" he replied strapping the back pack onto his person.

"Cap these guys come from legend, they're basically gods" Natasha called from her seat as she tried to reset the plane to stabilize in the air.

"With all due respect" Captain America turned to look back at Lifa as he ran towards the still open back door "There's only one god mam and I'm pretty sure he doesn't dress like _that_"

"Argh! MEN!" Lifa groaned as she saw the soldier fit his shield onto his arm before diving over the edge and down out of sight.

"Not going to join them?" Natasha called back. She too looked very irritable and Lifa could only guess that the older woman was currently sympathising with her perspective.

"I'll wait and see how this turns out"

"alright then" Natasha shrugged before quickly flicking on the connection to the heli-carrier again.

"Hey Fury…we're gonna be a bit late. We've got a big family reunion coming right up"

"Agh!" Loki grunted as his back slid painfully over the surface of the rocky ground on which he and Thor had landed on. He looked up at the now clearing night sky above him and despite himself felt himself chuckle as he remembered all those moments Thor had dragged him along behind Mjolnir when they were much younger. Those had been most amusing days.

But he was ripped from such thoughts as Thor growled from above him

"Where is the Tesseract?"

"Ah-ha! I've missed you too"

"Do I look to be in a gaming mood" Thor narrowed his eyes as he saw Loki's smirk change from fond to scathing in a matter of seconds as he gingerly sat up.

"You should thank me. With the Bifrost gone how much dark energy did the Allfather have to muster to conjure you here to your _precious_ Earth?"

There was a heavy thud as Thor dropped Mjolnir to the side and strode forwards to lift Loki up by the scruff of his neck.

However as he looked into those familiar green eyes his grip softened ever so slightly.

"I thought you dead" he murmured quietly

"Did you mourn?" Loki narrowed his eyes scornfully at the Thunder god whose bright blue eyes watered slightly.

"We all did" he admitted. "Our mother, Lifa, our father-"

But Loki put up a finger and sneered darkly.

"_Your_ father"

He shoved Thor off with a massive push and strode away from him his head bowed slightly.

"He did tell you my true parentage did he not?"

"We were raised together" Thor's voice was tremulous as he watched the back of the raven locks as Loki walked away from him. "We played together, we fought together. Do you remember none of that?"

"I remember a shadow" Loki hissed "Living in the shade of your greatness. I remember you tossing me into an abyss after taking everything I held dear from me, I who was and should be KING!"

"So you take the world I love as a recompense for your imagined slights?"

"Did all that blood all over _her_ body look _imaginary_ to you?!" Loki spat venomously.

"No it did not" Thor's eyes hardened as the painful memory of all that red staining gold flashed over his mind for a split second. But he recovered himself quickly as he stepped down towards his wayward brother. "But the Earth is under my protection Loki"

"and you're doing a _marvellous _job with that" Loki cackled sarcastically

"The human's slaughter each other in droves. While you idly fret. I mean to rule them, and why should I not?"

"You think yourself above them"

"Well yes."

Loki blinked in confusion as Thor shook his head despondently.

"Then you miss the truth of ruling, brother. A throne would suit you ill"

He quickly stepped back as Loki growled angrily shoving him out of the way as he made his way higher up the rocky cliff face.

"I've seen worlds you've never known about!" He snarled as Thor made to slowly follow him at a distance "I have grown, _Odinson_, in my exile. I have seen the true power of the Tesseract and when I wield it-"

"Who showed you this power?" Thor asked suddenly concerned.

From what he had heard from Odin, the Tesseract was a powerful object that, like the Gullhringr his sister now wore, had the power to twist the minds and hearts of those around it, save the one who it deemed worthy to hold it.

_Has it done something to you too? Is that why you are like this Brother?_

He thought even as he approached a now silent Loki, who seemed reluctant to reveal his thoughts.

"Who controls the would-be king?"

Loki's face turned incensed

"I am a king!"

"Not here!" Thor cried out suddenly grabbing Loki by the shoulders and shaking him "You give up the Tesseract! You give up this poisonous dream! And come home with Lifa" he added quietly.

Loki stared at him for a moment his green eyes bright as he seemed to digest what was being offered to him.

_Loki listen to him, he's telling the truth. _

Lifa's voice said urgently in the back of his mind.

_They never stopped caring about you…I never stopped caring…_

He shut his eyes and took a deep breath as he remembered the way she'd held onto him barely an hour ago in that square.

_There is still time for you to make amends and we can both go back home together_

Oh how he was so tempted to listen to her words, but even as he opened his mouth to agree to them a memory flashed over the back of his minds eye.

_"If you fail, if the Tesseract is kept from us, there will be no realm, no barren moon, no crevice where he cannot find you…or that which you hold **dearest**"_

"Loki?" Thor tried to look into his adoptive brother's eyes but Loki only smirked.

If the thunder god had looked closer he would have seen that the trickster's expression did not reach his eyes which were still cold and melancholic.

"You need the cube to bring me home" Loki muttered as he saw Mjolnir fly into Thor's hand. "But I've sent it off I know not where"

"You listen well brother I-" but before Thor could say another word, something red and gold bowled him over from the side, sending him flying off into the trees.

"I'm listening?" Loki grinned gleefully watching with amusement as the large ball of energy crashed into the forest floor below.

"Stupid oafs" he snorted under his breath. "Fighting amongst yourselves like Bildschneip"

* * *

Meanwhile back in the plane Lifa had opened up a golden magic window and was watching over her elder brother Thor as he recovered one the ground.

He grunted as he stood to his feet to face down the armoured form of Iron Man who lifted up his face mask to show his face.

"Do not touch me again"

"Then don't take my stuff" Tony replied sassily.

Lifa rolled her eyes.

"Great just what my brother needs, motivation to raise his fist"

"If it makes you feel any better" Natasha smirked from the cockpit "for a supposed child genius, Stark's always been a bit of an egotistical idiot. Thor's not going to be the first person he pisses of and nor will he be the last"

"Figured as such" Lifa nodded before falling silent to listen as Thor growled.

"You have no idea what you're dealing with"

"Uh…Shakespeare in the park?" Tony shrugged looking about the forest before dramatically gesturing to Thor's red cape "Doth mother know you wear-eth her drapes"

Lifa didn't know who this Shakespeare person was but she figured that had he been around to see this he would have been very insulted by the poor mockery from the Iron Man. It certainly was pushing Thor over the edge, already a vein in his left temple was throbbing.

"This is beyond you metal man. Loki will face Asgardian justice-"

"If he gives up the cube he's all yours. Until then" the golden mask dropped back down in front of Tony's face "Stay out of the way. Tourist"

"god why do I even bother" Lifa face palmed as she saw Thor throw Mjolnir straight into Iron Man's chest. Iron man got up just as Natasha called from the front.

"Hey! Can you check on Loki while you're at it? He's now underneath us but I don't know if it's really him or just an illusion."

"He's not going to move" Lifa groaned but still she brought up another golden ring beside the first one that instantly shifted to show the trickster sitting calmly on the cliff face over the forest, grinning down as he watched his adoptive brother and his captor fight over their own egos.

He looked up at the sky just as a large shadow loomed over his spot and Lifa knew that he was looking right up at the plane as it hovered above him.

"Don't worry my dear sweet Lifa. I'm not going anywhere any time soon"

Lifa blushed a deep scarlet as Natasha's sharp eyes glanced her way.

"Dear?"

"It's complicated" Lifa coughed but then she winced as a voice chuckled in her brain.

_It's not really that complex… We were together, we courted one another. What more could there be to it?_

_Loki no!_

Lifa scowled angrily. She hated it whenever he tried to probe her mind. Back in her past as princess of Asgard her mind was once her sanctuary where she could escape the boredom and loneliness of her days cooped up in the palace.

However in more recent months her mind had become more than just a respite, it had become the treasure trove for all her memories, great or small, sad or happy. Moments both from Earth and from Asgard that she never wanted to forget, even when she and Loki had-

_Oh Lifa…_

Loki's voice was a delighted but sensual purr as he probed that particular memory quite intensively.

_Loki you stop this right now I mean it!_

Lifa's hands shook as she gripped the sides of her seat, trying her best to keep the violent flush from her cheeks as her entire body tingled all over.

She was thankfully brought out of such a reverie when she saw through her real eyes, Thor striking at Iron man with a bolt of lightning from Mjolnir.

She sighed with exasperation as Iron Man hit back, his armour now charged thanks to the energy emitted from the mystical hammer.

Great, now Thor was never going to quit

_He's not going to stop now is he?_

She asked Loki mentally as she felt him poking around some of her smaller unimportant memories.

_Obviously not_

She could almost feel him roll his eyes.

_He now has an equal in strength. I'd be very surprised if he stops before the dawn breaks._

There was a pause as Lifa felt him look hard and long at one particular memory.

It was from three years ago, on her fifteenth birthday, Loki had taken her on a walk through the gardens whilst Thor, Odin and Frigga had arranged for a surprise for her back inside the palace. It had been a wonderful stroll, the day had been bright and the flowers had been in bloom and they had laughed so much together. It had also been the day she had received her royal crown, the golden one that looked like a wreath of pale gold flowers, so delicate and beautiful unlike the helms worn by most royals.

As she watched herself and Loki laugh and smile with one another she heard his voice waft over her brain, his words echoing.

_I missed you…_

Despite herself she felt the corners of her lips quirk upwards.

_I missed you too._

"HEY!"

CLANG!

Lifa winced as something metallic rang loud and clear from one of the magical windows she had hovering in front of her.

She glared at the rings in front of her with irritation bordering on vehemence as she saw Iron Man and Thor look up just in time to see Captain America retrieve his returning shield as he stood on a broken log above them.

"That's enough."

"Well at least someone has a cool head" She muttered darkly as she saw the soldier jump down to be level with both combatants.

"Now I don't know what you plan on doing here-"

"I've come here to put an end to Loki's schemes" Thor growled angry that his bout had been interrupted.

"Then prove it" Captain America narrowed his eyes "Put the hammer down"

"Idiot" Lifa sighed heavily pinching the bridge of her nose as Iron Man quickly fumbled.

"Uh no! Nuh-huh! Bad call. He loves his hamme-"

But he was quickly mowed down by said hammer in Thor's hands as the Thunder god bellowed.

"You want me to put the hammer DOWN?!"

"Captain Rogers you have just signed your death warrant" Lifa shook her head as her brother made to leap into the air, lifting Mjolnir high above his head.

With a mighty roar he struck down upon the captain, who at once crouched beneath his round shield.

Lifa felt the entire plane around her shake as the shockwave of the two weapons colliding rent the air and the surrounding trees with almost the same force as an atomic bomb.

She saw Thor fly backwards through the air just as Loki made to crouch behind a rock close by covering his ears with both his hands. Iron Man thankfully was still planted on the floor so he did not move much and neither did Captain America who stayed under cover of his shield which was, inexplicably…miraculously…unscathed?

Lifa quickly dismissed all her magic viewers and made her way over to the cockpit where she proceeded to hijack the loud speaker system from a very irate Natasha who was busy trying to ring out her ears to clear them of the humming still reverberating inside her head.

Meanwhile on the ground all three heroes and even Loki winced as they heard the young woman's biting tones ring loud over the forest.

"If you gentlemen are quite finished bickering like _children_ then make haste and heave your sorry backsides back into this plane right now or else face _my_ wrath!"

There was a loud click as the megaphone shut off and Thor, Iron Man and Captain America all looked round at one another as they stood up.

"Well…you heard the lady" The super soldier muttered "let's just get Loki and move it"

"Yes of course"

"Right"

Thor and Iron Man both nodded dumbly as they stumbled where they stood, still disorientated slightly from the impact of that last strike.

Back in the plane Natasha turned to look up at Lifa's angry scowl with raised eyebrows.

_Hmm…well what do you know?_

She smirked.

_The girl's got guts after all_

* * *

And Phew that's a full 7,276 word chapter done right there and then.

So Lifa and Loki have reunited along with Thor as well. I wonder what Fury will make of such a family reunion. Obviously it can't mean anything good.

This is one of my favourite scenes in the entire movie, which also includes the Black widow interrogation scene, the Shwarma scene and that end battle scene. It was so epic in 3D. pity I have to wait till the end to write that bit :(

Keep Reading and reviewing for more.

Till next time ;)


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: First Council**

Much of the main hangar bay aboard the SHIELD helicarrier was silent as the back ramp of the black combat plane was lowered down.

Natasha Romanoff, Captain America, Iron Man and Thor were the first to step off their faces set in grim grimaces as they made to stand aside for the last pair exiting the air craft.

Lifa gulped uncertainly as she walked beside a handcuffed Loki down the raft towards Fury who was standing in front of a group of ten darkly clad and heavily armed SHEILD security agents.

The Director bristled slightly as Loki sneered at him.

"Well I see you've recovered _nicely_"

"Nice enough to continue what I started" Fury replied icily and Loki laughed before looking down at Lifa with a wide grin.

"So these are the people you are allied with? Surprising choice _my love_ considering how much you say you detest men of violence."

"Loki" Lifa hissed, quickly noticing Thor's face turn especially tense at the term of endearment "please just go along with this. You are in enough trouble as it stands."

"I can't make any promises" Loki tried to grin but Lifa shook her head.

"Loki I'm begging you… no more tricks. If you do then there won't be anything I can do to protect you"

Loki stared at her for a long moment the smile slowly vanishing from his face as he looked into her worried blue eyes.

"Very well then my Love…for you" he leaned in and kissed the top of her curls briefly.

"If you two are quite finished, we have a tight schedule to follow. Boys take the prisoner to his new _room_" Fury's one good eye narrowed on Loki before glaring hard at Lifa. It was the kind of glare that he usually gave his rookie agents if they stuffed up big time, one that made them quake in their boots with fear. But Lifa was not one of his underlings. She was a princess of Asgard and so she met his gaze with a cold steely glance of her own.

"Oh it will take more than that to frighten her I can assure you _Director_" Loki smirked as he stepped forth and allowed the security team to surround him.

Lifa almost felt like bolting forwards and yanking the men off of her lover. He may have been on the other side but she wasn't going to let them treat him so cruelly. However she was stopped by a hand at her shoulder. She looked up as Thor pulled her away gently.

"It's alright Lifa…Loki will be able to handle himself" he muttered as the security team began to walk away, their prisoner calmly striding in their midst completely relaxed.

There was a tiny growl under breath as Fury turned to look back at the team of five that stood before him.

"Captain Rogers, Princess" he nodded at Lifa "show yourselves and Thor to the main conference deck on the bridge. Agent Romanoff collect Dr Banner and bring him there. Stark, Agent Coulson will show you to a bunk."

"Right. Hey!" Steve called turning to Lifa and Thor who were both still standing and watching Loki as he and his armed escort disappeared around a distant corner. They both jumped slightly at the Super soldier's sudden interruption.

"You both coming?"

"Yes of course we'll be right behind you" Lifa nodded. Steve nodded back before quickly beginning to stride ahead. From what he'd just been witness to he figured the two siblings definitely needed some time to talk.

Indeed he was right for as soon as they had started walking behind him, he heard their murmurs.

"You seem worn out little sister" Thor stroked the back of Lifa's curls as she yawned wide. "Do these humans treat you well here?"

"For the most part yes" Lifa blinked suddenly feeling the weight of all those restless hours of emotional turmoil suddenly hit her body. "But it's not like how it was at Asgard"

"No it certainly is not" Thor smiled, wrapping an arm around his younger sister's shoulders as she leaned into his side, slinging his large black leather sack over his shoulder.

"It was hard in the beginning I will admit…really, really hard…" Lifa mumbled keeping watch on Steve's red and white striped uniform as it walked a few paces in front trying and failing to look natural.

"People here on Earth expect you to be more independent both in mind and in actions. But after a few months I got accustomed to such expectations and really... it was quite amazing…I've managed to do so many things on my own that I would never have been allowed to do back at Asgard. For the first time in my whole life I actually felt…true _accomplishment_"

Thor looked down in astonishment as Lifa's face split into a wide proud smile up at him. He felt himself smile too though in his eyes she could make out a tiny glimmer of sadness.

"You've grown so much Lifa" he murmured squeezing her shoulder "My only regret is that you had to learn through hardship on your own"

"Oh I wasn't alone" Lifa snorted her smile changing into a smirk "Your _dear_ Jane, Darcy and Erik were most considerate friends during my stay"

"You stayed with Jane?" Thor felt a great weight lift tremendously off his heart.

"Yes" Lifa sighed suddenly looking troubled "Though now that I think about it I still have to ask Fury whether it is safe for me to contact them or not."

"That will not be possible now" Thor muttered under his breath "Now that I am here Loki will be sure to try and target her for his revenge." He then looked upon Lifa anxiously.

"He really does love you doesn't he?"

"Yes" Lifa clipped "And I love him. It is a fact of life I'm afraid you must live with brother"

"…I see…" Thor's hand on her shoulder tensed for a moment as they made to follow Steve out into the conference deck of the Bridge platform.

The super soldier in front gulped as he took his seat.

This was going to be awkward.

* * *

"In case it's unclear"

Loki watched from within the cylinder of glass and metal as the dark director of SHIELD made to stand outside his container at a computer port.

"If you try to escape. If you so much as scratch that glass" Fury pressed a button and at once the platform that lay a few meters below the cylinder shifted away to reveal a vacuum of air as the blue ocean became visible below.

Loki had to admit the drop was quite some way down.

"It's 30,0000 feet straight down in a steel trap. You get how that works?" Fury had to yell to be heard over the rush of air as he quickly made to press the same button from before. The platform shut at once as the God of Mischief made his way calmly over to the glass panel closest to him.

"Ant." He gestured to the trickster before turning to the computer. "Boot"

"It's an impressive cage" Loki chuckled "Not built I think for me"

"Built for something a lot stronger than you"

"Oh I've heard" Loki smirked at a security camera blatantly visible to him to his right. The fools. He could create illusions now and the silly little contraption wouldn't know the difference.

_Well if they want a show…I'll give them a show!_

"A mindless beast. Makes play he's still a man. How desperate are you, that you call on such lost creatures to defend you?"

"How _desperate_ am I?" Fury growled allowing his true anger to surface for a moment upon his face so dark that some of the security guards at the doors behind him shifted nervously on their feet.

"You threaten my world with war, you steal a force you can't hope to control, you talk about peace and you kill because it's fun. You have made me very desperate. And you might not be glad that you did"

"Ohh!" Loki hissed mockingly with a sneer "It _burns _you to have come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power. _Unlimited _power. And for what? A warm light for all mankind to share and then to be reminded what real power is"

Fury raised his eyebrows coolly

"Well let me know if _real power_ want's a magazine or something. Though I doubt that's what you really _want_ now isn't it?"

And with that Fury stalked off, smirking to himself as he caught sight of the way Loki's eyes flashed dangerously as they watched him exit the room.

_So…he does genuinely care for the girl…_

He glanced back at the closing door behind him for a moment.

_Yes this could work out well indeed._

Lifa watched with sad eyes as she swatted away the large amber ring of her magic scrying window. Loki was looking so furious but so calm…that wasn't ever a good sign.

She looked up as Bruce Banner spoke up from beside her seat at the conference table.

"He really grows on you doesn't he?"

"Loki's gonna drag this out. So…" Steve spoke up from Lifa's other side still blinking a little from the surprise of seeing the magic rings disappear.

The girl really hadn't been kidding about her powers. He quickly coughed as he noticed everyone watching him waiting for him to finish speaking.

"Thor what's his play?"

"He has an army called the Chitauri" Thor was standing at the head of the opposite end of the table pacing back and forth with folded arms "They are not of Asgard, nor any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the Earth"

"Most likely in exchange for the Tesseract" Lifa murmured shutting her eyes for a moment. She really felt drained, almost like she could fall asleep right there and then upon the table top.

"An army? From outer space?" Steve looked across from his seat towards Natasha who up till that point had been silently watching the magic ring with a pensive blank face.

"So he's building another portal" Bruce spoke up fiddling with his glasses in his hands "That's what he needs Erik Selvig for"

"Selvig?" Thor quickly turned to Bruce with surprise.

"He's an astrophysicist"

"He's a friend" Thor corrected.

"Yeah well Loki has him under some kind of spell" Natasha spoke before adding quietly "along with one of ours"

She exchanged a glance with Lifa who opened her eyes and looked upon the woman with dawning comprehension.

So that's why she'd been so tense before when they'd first met.

Clint Barton had been her friend. And now he was under control of the enemy.

But even as she pondered the thought Steve spoke again.

"I want to know why Loki let us take him. He's not leading an army from here"

"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki" Bruce quickly interjected "That guy's brain is a bag full of cats. You could smell crazy on him"

Lifa was too tired to correct or snap at her new friend so she instead let Thor glower and growl lowly.

"Have care how you speak, Loki may be beyond reason but he is of Asgard, and he is my brother"

"He killed eighty people in two days, plus he's dating your younger _sister_" Natasha deadpanned.

"…he's adopted" Thor mumbled awkwardly.

"Smooth save brother" Lifa grumbled under her breath as she leant back in her seat. By Odin she really wanted to go to bed. But if Bruce it seemed was keen on still discussing their predicament.

"I think it's about the mechanics. Iridium. What do they need the Iridium for?"

"It's a stabilizing agent" A new voice announced and everyone turned to see Tony Stark waltz into the bridge alongside Phil Coulson with whom he seemed to be sharing a rather comfortable friendly chat with.

"I'm just saying, pick a weekend, I'll fly you to Portland"

But Coulson just shook his head with a small smile of amusement as he stepped aside to join the Agents at their computer stations on the lower deck.

Seeing the end of the discussion the genius billionaire now strutted confidently into the midst of his new comrades in his sharp black suit as he made to continue explaining his statement from earlier.

"It means the portal won't collapse on itself like it did at SHIELD. No hard feelings, Point Break. You've got a mean swing" he added patting Thor on the shoulder as he passed him on his way to Fury's monitors. "Also, it means the portal can open as wide and stay open as long as Loki wants. Raise the mizzenmast. Jib the topsails"

Many people at the computers below looked up and glowered at him with exasperation as he quickly pointed his figure towards a man in a far corner.

"That man is playing _Galaga_. He thought we wouldn't notice. But we did" he then turned and looked about at the monitor's in front of himself, holding up one hand over his left eye. "How does Fury even see these?"

"He turns" Lifa rolled her eyes shaking her head as Tony turned towards the screens on his right.

"Sounds exhausting. The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. The only major component he still needs is a power source of high-energy density. Something to kick start the cube"

Lifa's eyes narrowed as she saw him press something just under the rim of one of the monitors but she said nothing as Agent Maria Hill stepped up from the computer deck with folded arms.

"When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?"

"Last night" Tony shrugged "the packet. Selvig's notes, the extraction theory papers. Am I the only one who did the reading?!"

"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?" Steve asked trying his best to process whatever scientific mumbo jumbo the man had just spouted at the top of his head.

At this Bruce spoke up and unfortunately for the captain, the spy and the two Asgardians, he was just as technical.

"He would have to heat the cube to 120-million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier"

"Unless Selvig as figured out how to stabilise the quantum tunnelling effect" Tony continued beginning to stride over towards his fellow scientist who was considering his facts carefully but excitedly.

"Well if he could do that he could achieve heavy ion fusion at any reactor on the planet"

"Finally" Tony grinned "someone who speaks English"

"Is that what just happened?" Steve muttered to Lifa by his side who shrugged and yawned just as the two men shook hands behind her chair.

"It's good to meet you Dr Banner" Tony said genuinely pleased "Your work on antielectron collisions is unparalleled. And I am a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage-monster"

"…thanks" Bruce replied awkwardly just as someone else strode into the room. It was Fury and he looked livid.

"Dr Banner is only here to track the cube. I was hoping you would join him and Lifa in the search" he gestured to Lifa who blinked sleepily.

"I'd start with that stick of his" Steve stated "it may be magical but it works an awful lot like a HYDRA weapon"

"I'm not sure what a _hydra_ weapon is" Lifa grunted straightening up in her seat "but you have a point. Judging by the mystic energy it emits it is most certainly powered by the cube, or at least the gem within is made from the same magical essence. It is for certain just as powerful as my Gullhringr and definitely just as dangerous."

She fiddled with the golden band about her right wrist on which the ancient runes were glimmering with a bright amber glow. It had been doing that ever since she'd come into close proximity to Loki and the sceptre and now it was not stopping to buzz with energy.

"You can figure out its power levels later" Fury looked sternly at Lifa who glowered back sleepily "What I want to know now is how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys"

"Monkeys?" Thor blinked in confusion "I do not understand"

"I do. I understood that reference" Steve quickly exclaimed much to Tony's exasperation.

"So shall we play, Doc, Princess?" he patted Lifa on the shoulder and she startled at the sudden familiarity of the gesture.

"Lead the way" she yawned standing up and stretching widely.

"I shall come with you" Thor quickly strode over retrieving a large sack by the feet of the table. "I need to speak with my sister before she begins working"

"By all means" Bruce nodded as the four of them began to walk out.

As soon as they were gone Natasha turned towards Fury and spoke softly.

"You want to use her as bait don't you?"

"You saw how he was with her" Fury muttered. "If we play our cards right there is a certain chance of him telling us where the Tesseract is. Or better. He might actually stop his plans"

"But what if he doesn't?" Steve narrowed his eyes with worry "what if it all backfires and he attacks the earth. What will he do to her then? And worse, what if she joins him?"

"She won't" Fury smirked. "Thor will see to that"

* * *

As they set up their equipment, Tony and Bruce both smirked as Thor made to carry a now fully asleep Lifa onto a small single bed in the corner of the lab. She had fallen asleep in a chair as soon as they'd arrived at the lab. It seemed that three visions and two nights of no sleep really had taken a huge toll on her physically despite her powerful heritage.

"Wow for one tough guy he sure is a big softy" Tony's eyebrows rose as he saw the Asgardian quickly shed the material of his fine red cloak and quickly drape it comfortably over the girl's sleeping form before setting the large sack on the floor by the end of the bed.

"Hey" Bruce quietly hissed to the thunder god who turned sharply to him to talk. "If you don't mind me asking what's in the bag?"

"more giant hammers?" Tony muttered under his breath.

Thor ignored him and spoke to Bruce calmly.

"Gifts from my home in Asgard. My father foresees a war for Earth. He does not want his youngest to go to battle unprepared"

"and nothing for you?" Bruce shifted his glasses upon his nose as he heaved a crate up onto a table top.

"I have all I need on my person and that will suffice for me in battle" Thor straightened up proudly fingering Mjolnir's handle on his belt "However my sister is new to warfare and I shall not risk her safety any more than I need to."

"Fair enough" Tony shrugged plugging in one of his machine's into a socket on the wall. But he couldn't help but eye the bag curiously.

Weapons and equipment from Asgard?! What temptation that was. He was distracted when Thor spoke with a grim voice.

"I need to talk with Fury. Can I trust you both to watch over her till she wakes"

"Yeah we'll keep an eye on her" Bruce nodded, gulping as he felt his heart rate accelerate with trepidation under those narrowed eyes.

_Stay calm and keep breathing_

Tony however adopted a rather solemn expression, one someone would usually give at a funeral "two sets of eyes actually. She won't be able to peep without us knowing"

"Thank you" Thor sighed with relief before striding out quickly and out of sight.

As soon as he was gone Tony's face split into an excited grin. He couldn't help it. He was working with two of the most interesting people in the world. One a hulking green rage monster underneath a timid scientist; the other an Asgardian princess with knowledge of the mysterious mystic arts. It was like getting a golden ticket to Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory!

"You're going to check the bag out aren't you?" Bruce sighed heavily. The man was almost like an overgrown child sometimes.

"Obviously" Tony bounced off to the bag only to jump back as a blue eye snapped open from the midst of red and gold.

"For a man of great intellect" Lifa growled her eyes narrowed with sleepy anger "You really do not know much about the art of subtlety do you?"

Bruce chuckled as Tony began to mumble sheepishly under her terrifying glower.

"Oh I am going to enjoy working with you two"

* * *

lol. just a little sibling fluff to brighten up the days. Tony can't believe his luck at his two work partners.

Keep reading and Reviewing for more


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Suspicious Glances**

It was a few hours later when Lifa finally regained the strength to wake up completely. Though she knew it wouldn't be enough to completely rest her body she knew it would have to suffice.

Finding the Tesseract was more important after all.

"Oh welcome back sleeping beauty? Had a good power nap?" Tony called from where he was rummaging in a small rucksack he'd kept by his personal station.

On the other side of the room Bruce was busy scanning Loki's sceptre which was now being held up by a small stand on its side. The blue gem in the middle of the blades began to glow brighter as Lifa approached as did the golden band on her wrist.

"Wow that bracelet of yours really seems to be setting it off" Bruce muttered and Lifa stepped back a pace as she felt a small surge of power flood her veins.

"that's odd…" Lifa reached out her hand to hover over the weapon. "Stay back for a moment"

Bruce didn't need telling twice and was already darting fast out of the way as her hand glowed gold for a moment and the blue gem at once sparked off.

She winced as one of the sparks hit her palm but didn't move. Finally after a couple of tiny zaps she pulled her hand away and examined it.

"Hmm" she frowned as the gold and blue energy began to mingle together, turning white as it heated up over her hand. However she did not feel a searing pain. Only a small tingle danced over her skin.

"Very odd indeed" she muttered.

"What's up?" Tony was almost bouncing on his feet with excitement as he strode over with a small packet of blueberries in his hand. "I mean apart from your hand glittering brighter than Michael Jackson's glove"

"Oh trust me Stark" Lifa's eyes hardened on the energy coating her hand "this is much more dangerous than a mere mortal's glove."

She took a deep breath, shutting her eyes as she concentrated.

Bruce and Tony both watched with wonder as very slowly the energy began to fade as it was absorbed back into the girl's skin. Lifa shivered slightly as a wave of energy surged throughout her body, tingling from the tips of her fingers, to the top of her curls and even down to her toes in her boots.

When she opened her eyes she gasped as she looked up in dim reflection in the glass window of the lab. In it she could see the dark circles under her eyes vanish and her skin turn rosy and revitalized. But more than that she felt…she felt as refreshed as if her body had had several hours more of sleep.

She blinked as a dark device crossed her vision.

"hmm…" Tony's brow furrowed as he ran the device over the girl's back. "the readings are dimming down-It's…I don't believe it" his eyebrows rose as he read the scanner "It's absorbing into her system"

He looked up at Lifa with bright eyes

"Can Asgardians absorb…mystic energies?"

"Yes" Lifa nodded "but it depends on the type of energy and the strength of will of the practitioner. Usually it's only the most powerful of sorcerers that are capable of absorbing full on attacks. With the amount of energy the sceptre gives off…I'm honestly not sure how I was able to do…what I just did…" she finished awkwardly running fingers through her curls.

"Maybe it's the gold-thingamabob on your wrist" Bruce suggested as he returned to the table to examine the sceptre which was currently still glowing brightly but no longer sparking off dangerously "I know I'm no sorcerer or anything but from what I've seen and heard from the reports you have a pretty close connection with the thing. Kinda like how I am with … the _other_ guy. Not to mention about what you said about it being sentient"

"Sentient is one way of putting it" Lifa mumbled darkly rubbing her forehead as a tiny twinge of energy ran through her again.

She shut her eyes for a moment and Tony looked at Bruce who shrugged.

"Another vision."

"Doesn't look pleasant."

"it's not trust me" Lifa groaned opening her eyes as she tried to process what she had just seen in her mind's eye.

The Gullhringr, the Sceptre, the Tesseract Cube all floating side by side, alongside several other strange objects. There was one orb with a purplish glow but otherwise she couldn't make out the rest. But she could tell that there were six artefacts in total.

"Well whatever it is I'm not sure I understand what it means." She grunted quickly shaking her head as Tony tilted the packet of blueberries in her direction. She took one and was pleased to taste the sweet juices fill her mouth just as Bruce spoke up from his spot behind the sceptre.

"Don't worry. I'm sure you'll be able to understand this. Here check this out. The gamma readings are definitely consistent with Selvig's report of the Tesseract. But it's going to take weeks to process" He jerked his head to the monitor in front of him and Lifa made to walk around to see it clearly just as Tony made his way over to another device on the other side of the room.

"If we bypass their mainframe and direct route to the Homer cluster we can clock this at around six hundred teraflops" he explained simply as he pressed a few buttons on the screen.

"Goodness you humans do love to confound yourselves with such terminology" Lifa shook her head as she tried to process the foreign technical terms.

"I only packed a toothbrush" Bruce chuckled.

"you know both of you should come by Stark Towers sometime" Tony shrugged as he walked back over to the sceptre's desk, chewing on a few blueberries "Top ten floors all R&D and the eleventh floor is completely dedicated to sports and recreation. You'd love it its candy land"

"Maybe if my brother doesn't drag me back to Asgard first" Lifa sighed heavily trying her best to stay back from the sceptre this time.

"And thanks but no thanks with me too" Bruce shook his head "The last time I was in New York I kind of…broke Harlem…"

"Well I promise a stress free environment." Tony said casually as he picked up a tiny two pronged fork into his hand. "No tension, no surprises"

Lifa rolled her eyes as there came a giant "OW" when Bruce cried out.

"Wow Nothing?" Tony's eyebrows rose in astonishment as he pulled the tiny tool away from his side.

"HEY" a new voice called and they all turned to see Steve striding in looking livid as he addressed Tony. "Are you nuts?"

"Jury's out" Tony grinned before turning to Bruce with admiration "You really have got a lid on it haven't you? What's your secret? Mellow jazz, bongo drums, huge bag of weed?"

"Is everything a joke to you?" Steve narrowed his eyes at the inventor who smirked in his face.

"Funny things are"

"Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn't funny. No offence Doc." He added quickly to Bruce who waved him off casually.

"I-It's alright, I wouldn't have come aboard if I couldn't handle pointy things"

"You're tiptoeing big man. You need to strut" Tony exclaimed as he walked back over to check another machine but Steve was not amused.

"And you need to focus on the problem Mr Stark"

"Do you think I'm not?" Tony now scowled with offence "Why did Fury call us in? Why now? Why not before? What isn't he telling us? I can't do the equation unless I have all the variables"

Lifa had to agree with that. For all his eccentricities, the genius billionaire made a very valid point, even Steve looked thoughtful for a moment.

"You think Fury's hiding something?"

"He's a spy what else do you think he'd do" Lifa snorted.

"And not just any spy kid" Tony nodded at her before offering her another go at the blueberry packet "He's _the_ spy. His secrets have secrets. It's bugging him too isn't it?" he turned to Bruce who was trying to quietly fiddle with the computer in his attempt not to be dragged into the conversation.

"ummm…" he gulped as everyone turned their gazes upon him "I just want to finish my work here and-"

"Doctor" Steve prompted.

Bruce sighed and took off his glasses. "_A warm light for all mankind._ Loki's jab at Fury about the Cube"

"What of it?" Lifa tensed slightly remembering the image.

"I think it was meant for you" Bruce looked at Tony who's eyebrows rose up slightly before handing him the packet of blueberries. He took one and continued to explain "Even if Barton didn't tell Loki about the tower it was still all over the news"

"The Stark Tower" Lifa explained to Steve who nodded in comprehension.

"Oh right. You mean that big ugly-" he paused as Tony glowered at him sidelong "-building in New York"

Lifa pursed her lips to hold back the snigger, before making to rearrange some small knick knacks on the table. They didn't need anything done with them but she felt like she should keep her hands busy anyway as she listened to Bruce prattle on.

"It's powered by an arc reactor, a self-sustaining energy source. That building will run itself for what, a year?"

"It's just a prototype" Tony shrugged before turning to Steve and Lifa. "I'm kind of the only name in clean energy right now. "That's what he's getting at"

"So…" Lifa bit her lip as realisation suddenly dawned on her "If that's the case why didn't SHIELD bring you in on the Tesseract project? Surely if one was trying to produce something new and emerging it would be a more logical course of action to bring in as many experienced and knowledgeable people in the field together as possible, especially if they are in alliance. There is no reason why not to do so unless the interested party has something worth hiding"

"Yeah I should probably look into that once my decryption programme finishes breaking into all of SHIELD's secure files" Tony smirked making to walk back around the table holding onto a tiny tablet.

Steve's eyes widened in shock.

"I'm sorry did you say-"

"Jarvis has been running it since I hit the bridge" Tony exclaimed as cool as a cucumber as he looked down on a little loading bar on the screen. It currently read thirty nine per cent. "In a few hours I'll know every dirty secret SHIELD has ever tried to hide. Blueberry?"

He offered the blueberry packet once more this time waggling it in front of Steve's unamused face.

"Yet you're confused about why they didn't want you around."

"An intelligence organisation that fears intelligence? Historically not awesome"

"I think Loki's trying to wind us up. This is a man who means to start a war and if we don't stay _focused_ he'll succeed. We have orders. We should follow them."

Steve quickly glanced at Lifa to check her reaction. Sure enough her face had gone once again tense. However she kept her face calm and passive, though her teeth were gritted under her pursed lips as she listened to Tony snipe back quickly at the jab.

"Following's not really my style"

"And you're all about style aren't you?"

"Of all the men in this room. Which one is A, wearing a spangled outfit. And B, not of use?"

"Steve," Bruce cut in concernedly "Tell me none of this smells a little funky to you"

Steve was silent for a moment as he looked around at the three Lab mates before his gaze rested on Lifa. The Asgardian princess noted that the expression wasn't as much worried as it was suspicious and she did not hesitate to sharpen her gaze in return.

The Super Soldier bristled uncomfortably.

"Just find the cube"

Lifa kept her shrewd eyes on his back as he exited the door.

"So that's the guy my dad never shut up about?" Tony muttered darkly with narrowed eye s as he turned to a monitor. "I'm wondering if they shouldn't have kept him on ice"

"All first impressions aside" Lifa muttered as she made to twirl her hand in mid-air and summon up a magic window through which she could see the pale form of their prisoner striding about in the glass cage "He's right about Loki. He has the jump on us even if he is caged."

"What he's got is an Acme Dynamite kit" Tony snorted. "It's gonna blow up in his face. And I'm gonna be there when it does" he added softly and Lifa growled under her breath.

"I'm sure you will" and with that she stalked off out of the room in an angry huff leaving Bruce to watch her go.

"Ouch" he then turned to Tony who shrugged though inwardly he did feel a tiny bit guilty about that jab, but not that much that he didn't feel the need to ask his fellow scientist.

"Yeah…I should probably apologise…later…So what about you big guy? You'll be suiting up with the rest of us?"

"eheh! No you see" Bruce snorted softly his face turning grave. "I don't get a suit of armour. I'm exposed…like a nerve…it's a nightmare"

"Y'know, I've got a cluster of shrapnel, trying every second to crawl its way into my heart. This" Tony tapped the glowing circular light in his chest under his Black Sabbath T-shirt "stops it. This little circle of light, it's a part of me now. Not just armour. It's a terrible privilege"

"But you can control it"

"Because I learned how" Tony muttered but Bruce shook his head

"it's different"

"Hey" Tony frowned, swiping the other man's monitor so that they could see each other through the glass surface "I read all about your accident. That much gamma exposure should have killed you"

"So you're saying that the Hulk…" Bruce paused biting his lip as he corrected himself "The _other _guy saved my life? That's nice…that's a nice sentiment. Saved it for what?"

"I guess we'll find out" Tony smirked as he stepped away from the monitor.

"You might not enjoy that" Bruce shook his head but Tony grinned.

"You might."

They both chuckled softly under their breaths

"Let me in now!"

Both men jumped as Lifa's voice snapped through the room.

"Hey isn't that?" Tony quickly peered to see through the glass door but no one was there.

"No look" Bruce suddenly pointed to a corner of the room where an orange glowing ring was floating in mid air in front of them.

"She must've left it behind by accident"

But even as the words left the scientist's mouth Tony was already standing in front of it trying and failing to make it larger.

"Damn!" he hissed when has hand went straight through the magical ring like a knife through smoke. "It must only be geared to follow her commands"

"Well she did create it" Bruce suggested walking over to look into the image projected.

Loki was standing at the edge of his glass cage watching as Lifa walked towards the door and slid through the small opening made by the guards for her to slip through.

Tony exchanged a small frown with Bruce who shrugged as they both turned their attentions back to the screen.

_Now just what exactly are you up to?_

* * *

"Are you sure you want to do that?" Loki's eyebrows rose as Lifa shut the door to the cell behind herself, the locks automatically clicking into place. "Won't your new _friends_ be worried? But…Ah yes I see it now…Fury thinks I'll talk if he allows you to come to me alone."

"I did not come to interrogate you Loki" Lifa muttered "I came to see how you were"

But even as he looked down upon her she suddenly felt her gut burn with shame and she looked away from him.

"Do not lie to me my Love" Loki's eyes narrowed at the doorway to the room at large behind the glass walls.

Lifa felt her heart almost break in two at the sight of his distrust as he stepped to tower over her.

"When have I ever lied to you Loki?" she sniffed down her tears and looked him in the eye.

Loki searched those clear blue orbs but he found not a trace of deceit.

"No…you're right. You could never could lie to begin with" Loki nodded gently wiping at her cheeks with his thumb.

"Life is easier that way…when you are honest with everything" she mumbled into his hand before leaning up and brushing her lips tenderly against his.

"Oh Lifa" Loki sighed softly against her mouth, revelling in her soft scent and warm body as he held her to him "If the nine realms could have your innocence it would be a much kinder universe indeed"

"Then why not make it kinder yourself?" Lifa pleaded cupping his cheeks in her hands "give up the Tesseract, give up this war and come home with me."

"I cannot go back to Asgard" Loki shut his eyes as his face tensed. He could still remember the disappointed look on Odin's face. "Not after what I've done..."

"Then we'll go somewhere else. We'll find a quiet place just you and I-"

"But where Lifa? Where would we go?" Loki shook his head and sighed "we would be outcasts, running between place to place hunted down for _my_ crimes, _my _wrongdoings. You would never know peace or stability, you would only know _pain_"

He pushed himself off Lifa with a great effort and turned his back on her

"No. I must continue my work with the Tesseract. It is the only way I could ever give us a safe future"

Lifa's eyes narrowed as she straightened up where she stood.

"Is that my beloved talking or is that the voice of his masters I hear him mimicking like a trained parrot?"

Loki stilled mid stride and then within the blink of an eye Lifa found herself backed up into a wall

"I woke up alone" Loki's teeth gritted as he gripped her hands tighter in his. "I had thought you would stay with me. But I was _alone_"

"I know" she gave a shuddering breath as tears began to trickle down her cheeks.

"No you don't" Loki growled but he did not release her from his hold "you don't know _anything_"

"You're right" Lifa sniffed. "but I swear I did not mean to do wrong by you-"

"NO!" Loki snarled into her ear pushing her by the hands so that she backed up into the glass wall behind her. "You knew that going to Thor would be betraying me! You knew it would crush my heart! The heart that I had given _you _in spite of _everything_!"

She shuddered as he pressed his nose by her ear inhaling her scent roughly. There were so many different smells of sweat and earth upon it but he could still smell the same sandalwood scent deep underneath.

"I-I'm so sorry Loki" her breath was barely audible but he felt it flutter against his cheek nonetheless.

"No you're not" he whispered but she shook her head.

"Yes I am! There is not a day that goes by where I do not regret saying a true goodbye to you"

"I would not have fallen so far if you hadn't said goodbye in the first place" Loki glared down at her as he pulled away, his hands on either side of her, trapping her body between his own and the glass behind. "You knew how much I loved you, why did you go?!"

"I thought I was protecting you!" she yelled angrily. "I thought by stopping you I could prevent you from falling into that abyss."

"Well we all know now how well that plan of yours turned out" Loki snapped before adding in a dark undertone. "And whatever happened to loving me in spite of everything? Or were those just fleeting words meant to please my ears till my back was turned?"

"Loki, I was sixteen years old!" Lifa cried out through now hurt tears "I loved you but I had no idea of how to accept or return your affections! I knew nothing of being loved or of loving someone else in return! I had no idea of what I was doing with myself! Up till that point no man had even tried to woo me with words let alone _touch _melike that! I was _scared_!"

Loki's eyes widened as the last word came out as a tearful shriek of anger and he felt his heart tug painfully at the anguish in her eyes.

It had never before occurred to him to think about how she would have felt about his advances. In his head he'd always seen her as either playing hard to get, playing him for her own gain or because she was simply just shy. He'd never once stopped to think that he might have crossed a line and had frightened her, no, traumatised her so that she would never be able to love another without feeling the shame of her inexperience, of his selfishness.

His eyes turned to the glass beside her head, distant and hollow as he listened to her soft sobs against his chest.

"…did…did my touch repulse you?" he murmured. "did I hurt you? Defile you? Scar you?"

"No… you did not" She shook her head quietly but his hands beside her clenched against the rock. "I just…I just wished you hadn't tried to rush it…to rush _us…_if we hadn't we might have had more time rather than having to scramble for tiny moments in the middle of conflicts against one another"

"We don't have to fight one another" Loki mumbled but Lifa shook her head.

"I'm not going to help you with bringing your army here Loki"

"You don't understand" Loki growled with exasperation. "You'd never have to be held back anymore, you could be a queen free to do whatever you wanted!"

"I _don't_ _want_ to be the queen of _anything_ Loki!" Lifa's eyes flashed like a firestorm and Loki quickly was backing away as she now advanced furiously at him "Do I have to be a queen for you to love me is that it?!"

"N-no" Loki stammered eyes wide with sudden fear as he reached out towards Lifa who was still crying angrily.

"Then what _King_ Loki? Am I not good enough, not worthy enough for you the way I am?!"

"Lifa-"

"NO don't _Lifa_ me!" Lifa growled over the top of him. "By Valhalla, are you blind or something? Are you so insecure and afraid of failure that you cannot realise the truth in front of your eyes? I don't care if you are a king or not! I love you such that I wouldn't care if you were even a-a simple godforsaken…pig farmer as long as I could be happy with _you_!"

She panted for breath watching as her lover stared at her in silent shock.

She wiped at her eyes, taking a long deep breath and trying to return her voice back to a normal level though it sounded hoarse like she were speaking through a head cold.

"Loki I cannot change you, nor can I alter your path for you. But neither can I allow you to take an innocent world just to prove your _worthiness_. So until you such a time as you see fit to move on from this darkness then I must…I must…"

She trailed off her lips trembling as she shut her eyes.

"Lifa…"

Loki's hands shook by his side as she stepped towards him and leaned up to kiss him softly once more.

"Forgive me Loki." She whispered but Loki was still scrambling with his hands to grip her as she slipped away from him "I only want what's best for you"

"No…Lifa don't" but already she was at the door already sliding through the gap.

"I love you…" she murmured turning back to face him through the glass, tears streaming down her face. "Never forget that"

"LIFA!" Loki roared slamming his fist on the glass as she turned her back upon him and ran out of the holding cell, her sobs echoing about the corridor.

* * *

Meanwhile back in the Laboratory Bruce and Tony exchanged worried glances as they watched Loki continue to yell out after the girl as she ran out of the room, sobbing her heart out.

"Well…" Tony gulped as the man beside him pinched the bridge of his nose. "There goes our trump card"

* * *

Uh oh...This could not be good. Fury is going to be...well furious (no pun really intended)

Read and Review for suggestions of what should happen next.

Till next time folks


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: A Shadow of Doubt**

"LIFA!" Loki roared slamming his fist on the glass as the girl turned her back upon him and ran out of the holding cell, her sobs echoing about the corridor.

He watched her till the dark doors to the room around his cell closed shut and obscured her from view.

She was gone…she'd left him on his own again…after saying that she never wanted to…after saying that she loved him…

_Love…Love… what a great lie, what a fantastic falsehood…it is not happiness…it is pain and torture in its most hideous disguise_

He shuddered. The voice that had spoken the line was hideous and cold and dead…and yet…

Loki's fist tightened as he shut his eyes and grit his teeth, willing himself not to crack at any moment.

And yet still through all the hurt he felt he still remembered her eyes though that only made his heart ache even more.

No…

Lifa could not lie to him, she would never lie to him…she was the only person who never lied to him, though that may have been because she never lied to anyone.

_The goddess of truth…and honesty…_

Loki, the god of mischief, of deceit and lies, shook his head against the glass, its surface cold comforting on his throbbing brow.

_How ironic should it be that I love my polar opposite…and that she love me in return…_

And she did love him…she loved him very much. He didn't need to be able to sense her emotions to know that was true.

Even a blind man would be able to see through her. Her love…her pain… her weaknesses, the greatest of which was her desire for acceptance…to please people…

He guessed he should have expected as such.

For so long she'd tried desperately to fulfil the expectations of a princess, to become the perfect lady, in hopes that her success would grant her freedom.

She thought she had escaped such a fate when she began to live on earth and for a time it seemed she had. And Loki had been happy for her.

For so long he had watched her struggle against her emotional suppression. It almost always broke his heart whenever he saw her diminish little by little, day by day, her beautiful free spirit crumbling like a stone eroding in water. So to see her find even some semblance of happiness even in a feeble form of independence on Earth…he had never felt more proud of her.

And yet with that pride anger stirred.

Her freedom…what should have been a right by birth had instead been privileged to lesser beings who least deserved it. Just like the throne had been denied to him…

Loki's eyes snapped open, clear and bright as they had not been in days.

Thor…Odin…the humans they all would pay for making him and his beloved suffer so much…

_Just you wait Lifa…I'll set you free…Once these humans are shown their place no one shall ever cage you again…_

* * *

"Ah!"

When Captain Rogers decided to sneak down to the cargo bay of the Helicarrier the last thing he expected to do was ram headlong into someone.

The force of the collision was such that they both fell backwards and landed on their backs painfully.

"Ow…" Steve heard a familiar female voice grunt and he sat up quickly.

He sat bolt upright as he caught sight of the now familiar mass of golden curls slowly rising from the floor.

"I'm so sorry are you okay?" he quickly scrambled to help Lifa up to her feet. She like him was still in her fighting gear.

"No forgive me" she mumbled scrubbing at her eyes frantically "I was not watching where I was going"

It was then that Steve noticed the tears.

"Hey…uh…umm" he gulped going pink to his ears.

Even after seventy years he still was terrible at talking to women. Especially crying women. That area he had ZERO experience in.

_But she's only eighteen. Still a kid…_

But even as he looked down upon the girl he noticed with a pang that her once bright blue eyes were now worn and tired…not unlike the many soldiers he once had seen on the front lines of the second world war.

_Maybe I can't talk to a woman…_

He thought as he reached out to put a hand on her shoulder.

_But I can talk to a soldier._

"I'm sorry you've been dragged into all of this. I…I don't think I can even imagine what you're going through…"

"Maybe not…"

Lifa looked up at the Super Soldier and she sighed, a small sad smile playing on her lips.

"But your attempt at comfort is greatly appreciated"

Lifa caught sight of his furrowed brow and her eyes darted to the floor.

"I…I know you are suspicious of my connections with Loki…and you are right to be wary…I know I would be…"

"To tell you the truth ma'am I'm not exactly sure how I feel about this whole situation" Steve admitted quietly. And it was true. He didn't think Lifa was a bad person, but he could not fathom how she could love a madman like the god of mischief, that and other things…

"Is that why you're down here?" Lifa looked around at their quiet surroundings which turned out to be tall stacks of secured crates labelled fragile or dangerous or flammable.

_Damn! She's really sharp._

"Uh…no…I'm just trying to take a stroll…stretch my limbs…" Steve gulped when her eyes found his face again, searching it intently.

The corners of her mouth quirked up a little in spite of herself.

"Captain Rogers for all your fortitude on the battlefield you are a terrible liar. I'd fear for your safety if you were to pursue a career as an espionage agent of SHIELD's"

Steve flushed an even brighter pink as he ran a hand through his hair.

"Well …err…princess"

"Please do not bother with titles." Lifa rolled her eyes in exasperation "I've not been a princess for some time now. To call me Lifa is fine by me"

"Very well then…Lifa" Steve corrected himself but still feeling rather nervous as he kept half his attention on staying alert of his surroundings. "If you must know I'm actually down here because I'm looking for something"

"Does this _something _of yours have anything to do with the Tesseract?" Lifa raised her eyebrows.

"In a way" Steve quickly looked around. Nope, no one in sight or earshot. He leaned in close to Lifa to mutter "Actually it's about what Stark said back at the lab"

"About Fury using the cube for his own means?"

Steve nodded quietly still checking about them anxiously for signs of being overheard.

"Yes. I know Stark's running the scans upstairs but that could take several hours and we need answers fast."

"and so you are trying to conduct a _manual_ search" Lifa's brow furrowed but not, as the super soldier noted with relief, from anger.

She quickly glanced back up at him and his gut dropped for a moment.

Damn…was she going to dob him in to Fury?

Lifa smirked as if guessing his thoughts.

"Would you mind if I join you in your search Captain?"

* * *

Director Nickolas Fury was fuming as he strode onto the bridge of the Helicarrier.

That girl! That damned girl!

She had broken it off with Loki.

The one person who could possibly stop the fallen Asgardian in his conquest…had broken ties with him over her own pride.

He sighed and ran a hand over his dark bald head.

Oh how he rued the day he first laid eyes on that girl. Nothing had come of her involvement with SHIELD but trouble with her rebellious blunt attitude, which was unfortunately encouraged by Clint Barton. He should have known better than to assign two birds of a feather to work together.

He managed to swallow down his towering temper as he approached the railings of a set of steps that led down into the computer bay below where Thor was talking with Phil Coulson.

"When I first came to Earth Loki's rage followed me here and your people and my sister have paid the price. And now again…" The Asgardian looked out the window to the dark knight skies around the helicarrier his face a mask of pain and regret "In my youth I courted war…"

"War hasn't started yet" Fury spoke as he approached close enough.

Thor turned to the spy his eyes wary. He did not need any magic powers to sense the distrust and suppressed anger that radiated from the man, and even as Fury spoke once more he felt wary.

"You think you could make Loki tell us where the Tesseract is?"

"I do not know" Thor admitted quietly "Loki's mind is far afield. It's not just power he craves its vengeance…upon me…there is no pain that would prise his need from him"

"A lot of guys think that" Fury agreed but his face was set grimly "Until the pain stops"

Thor looked up at him sharply his eyes flashing.

"What are you asking me to do?"

"I'm asking, what are you _prepared _to do" Fury's eye narrowed on him just as sternly.

"Loki is a prisoner" Thor's fists clenched by his sides.

"Then why do I feel like he's the only person on this boat that wants to be here?"

Thor stared at the man in silent his fists clenching by his sides as his gut nudged him warningly. No…something was not right here...why was Fury approaching him to question Loki…surely he would've picked Lifa to…

"Have you consulted my sister on this?"

Thor knew he'd struck home when he saw Fury stiffen in his spot, though it did not lessen the dark tones in his voice.

"Am I right in guessing that if the time came for it you would use her as a bargaining chip?"

"No…at least I can't… not anymore" at this Fury's one eye flashed with anger "Not now that she has cut ties with him."

"…I see…" Thor muttered softly almost to himself. "I see…"

* * *

"Captain!"

Steve quickly turned around from inspecting a wooden box filled with a strange assortment of packaged food, not unlike the nutrition bars used by astronauts.

He was relieved to see Lifa gesturing to him from around the corner of a large tower of crates.

"What did you find?" he hissed as he got close enough to her.

"I'm not sure yet. I've only opened one box" Lifa muttered quickly looking around before slipping into the narrow gap between two crates. "But if my observations are correct then we should be amongst weapons cargo"

As she spoke Steve looked quickly about them and sure enough saw many wooden and metallic boxes of varying sizes that bore marks of warning and hazard.

"Good. You start on the left, I'll take the right" he pointed to their respective directions.

"Alright what are we searching for?" Lifa whispered as she made to open a small case filled with a special breathing apparatus for toxic gas.

"Anything that is suspicious" Steve grunted as he pulled up a large metal box.

Lifa paused in her searching and turned to raise her eyebrows at him.

"Well…more suspicious than normal" Steve added quickly as he opened the box only to find a set of three rifles.

"Captain we are searching through one of your planet's most secretive organisations. I daresay we will find many a strange item before we acquire our bounty"

"Still it's gotta be faster than those machines upstairs" Steve raised his eyebrows back at her, half amused. He couldn't help it. The way she spoke was so old fashioned even by his standards.

His thoughts were interrupted when he clicked open his sixth case.

His breath caught in his throat as the lid fell back.

"…Hydra…"

Lifa wheeled about to look at the super soldier. His eyes were wide with shock as he looked down at another set of guns, big guns, only this time they were marked…marked with a skull that had several tentacles spewing from its mouth.

Lifa felt a negative vibe shoot through her system, so strong her legs almost buckled beneath her.

An image flashed over her mind of Loki striding about his glass cage smirking victoriously.

_The truth hurts doesn't it my love?_

She heard his smug voice chuckle in the dark corner of her mind.

Lifa's fists clenched tight as she muttered darkly to Steve.

"You should go to Stark and Bruce. Show them what you've found"

"What about you?" Steve's brow furrowed as she turned her back on him to walk away.

"I've got to deal with something on my own." She replied tersely "I shall return to the lab when I'm done"

* * *

Loki's smirk widened as he paused in his pacing.

"There are not many people who can sneak up on me" he turned round to face the door of his cage where a woman with short dark red hair stood in a dark suit.

"But you figured I'd come" Natasha Romanoff replied calm but cold as she stepped up to the glass.

"After" Loki admitted his smirk turning sarcastic "After whatever tortures Fury can concoct, you would appear as a friend, as a balm. And I would co-operate."

Natasha's eyes narrowed slightly but she kept her cool.

"I want to know what you've done to Agent Barton"

"I would say I've expanded his mind"

"And once you've won. Once you're king of the mountain. What happens to his mind?" She folded her arms and for the first time since she arrived Loki saw a small measure of worry in her eyes.

"hm… Is this love agent Romanoff?"

"Love is for _children_, I owe him a debt" Natasha's eyes hardened.

"Tell me" Loki stepped back graciously to sit on the bench that was placed at the far end of his glass cage.

Seeing his compliance Natasha pulled up an empty chair close by which the guards had been using on their shifts.

She sat down in it and sighed heavily.

"Before I worked for SHIELD I…uh…Well, I made a name for myself. I have a very specific skill set. I didn't care who I used it for, or on. I got on SHIELD's radar in a bad way. Agent Barton was sent to kill me. He made a different call"

There was a pause as Loki digested her words. He had to admit he was impressed by her daring. Spewing out her story to him her enemy at a time he could very much use it to destroy her…but then again human's were very bold creatures in spite of their limitations.

"And what will you do if I vow to spare him?"

"Not let you out-"

"Oh no, but I like this" Loki grinned happily, like a child would when burning ants with a magnifying glass.

"Your world in the balance and you bargain for one man"

"Regimes fall every day" Natasha shrugged nonchalantly "I tend not to weep over that, I'm Russian. Or at least I _was_"

"And what are you now?"

"It's really not that complicated" she deflected easily getting up to her feet to stand before the glass. "I got red in my ledger. I'd like to wipe it out"

"Can you?" Loki murmured softly quirking a brow from his seat "Can you wipe out that much red? Dreykov's daughter? Sao Paulo, the hospital fire. Barton told me everything."

He stood up and stalked towards her slowly sneering gleefully as he felt her inner turmoil begin to brew.

"Your ledger is dripping. It's _gushing_ red and you think saving a man no more virtuous than yourself will change anything? This is the basest sentimentality. This is a child at prayer. _Pathetic_! You lie and kill, in the service of liars and killers. You pretend to be separate, to have your own code, something that makes up for the horrors. But they are part of you. And they will never go away"

BAM! His fist hammered heavily against the glass. Loki was pleased to see Natasha flinch slightly away from him as he hissed derisively, his nose inches away from the transparent barrier between them.

"I won't touch Barton, not until I make him kill you. _Slowly_. _Intimately_. In every way he knows you fear. And then he'll wake just long enough to see his good work and when he screams I'll split his skull. This is my bargain my mewling quim!"

Natasha turned her back on him her eyes wide with horror and her breaths coming out in tiny shudders.

"You're a monster" she quivered but Loki just chuckled darkly.

"Oh no. You brought the monster"

Natasha's back straightened up and she turned round to face him. Loki's eyes narrowed derisively expecting to see tears or anguish only to be surprised. Her face was amazingly, inexplicably…calm…

"So Banner" she tilted her head curiously to the side "That's your play"

"What?" Loki blinked completely stumped by her reaction as she made to walk to the exit of the dark room her hand held up to her com unit in her ear.

"Loki means to unleash the Hulk. Keep Banner in the Lab. I'm on my way. Send Thor in as well" She turned round to face Loki who was still looking bewilderedly at her in shock.

"Thank you for your co-operation" and with that Natasha Romanoff turned her back on him and strutted out of the doors.

Loki stared at the spot where she had just been standing.

What had just happened?

A mortal…a mere mortal…had just tricked _him_? HIM the god of mischief?

* * *

"NGHA!"

Thor jumped as the loud war cry echoed throughout the otherwise unoccupied corridor.

He quickly peered inside the room from which he heard the noise and saw to his amazement Lifa standing in her fighting gear with both her katanas drawn. A SHIELD training robot meanwhile was dropping into several pieces, sparking off as the metal chunks hit the floor.

Thor watched as his younger sister straightened up with a deep breath and turned towards him, unnaturally calm.

"Hello Brother…what have you been up to?"

"Thinking"

"A dangerous pastime"

"As is venting out your frustrations in training"

Lifa raised her eyebrows coldly as Thor quietly made to approach her.

"I take it Fury told you of my separation from Loki"

"Yes" Thor nodded

"Then you'll know that I did what I thought was right. We may need answers but I will not let Fury use me to hurt Loki"

"I know" Thor's voice was soft as he put a large but gentle hand on her shoulder. "But I am here to spend time with you not to chastise you."

She sighed heavily and her grip on her katanas loosened up considerably.

"Forgive me brother" she turned away to walk over to a small bench close by where a bottle of water and a sweat towel were dumped.

Thor watched her sadly as she flumped down to sit, running her hands over her face and hair.

"I have been feeling rather high strung since this whole affair began"

"No Lifa" he muttered as he made his way to sit down beside her "You must forgive me. If it weren't for my selfish actions two years ago none of this would have come to pass"

Lifa looked up at him her gaze softening as she saw the true remorse etched across her brothers strong features.

"Thor…" she put her much smaller hand on one of his large biceps "Nobody here is truly at fault, nor are they completely blameless. We all have a part to play in the events that have transpired and it is those roles that only we ourselves can take responsibility for."

"I see you are still wise beyond your years" Thor smiled down at Lifa and she gave him a cheeky grin.

"And I see you are still stupid for yours"

They both chuckled, the Thunder God ruffling his sister's head affectionately.

"Oh brother…" Lifa shut her eyes and leaned into his side as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I've really missed you"

"And I have missed you" Thor admitted before looking down on her in surprise.

"Have you grown taller?"

"A little bit though I do not think I shall ever be as tall as our mother or Sif"

"Size does not necessarily denote strength" squeezing her shoulder tightly as he rested his chin atop of her head. "At least not the strength of will or of heart"

"Though it would help in battle" Lifa pouted.

"Not necessarily. Such a sweet facade can be very effective when deceiving an enemy. Indeed I would think it would give you a great advantage in battle. Speaking of battle"

Thor looked down on Lifa thoughtfully.

"Have you seen the gifts father sent for you?"

"No, not yet" Lifa shook her head suddenly remembering the bag back in the lab with Tony and Bruce "I have been too busy helping the others. But I suppose…"

She trailed off as she pulled away from Thor and held out her hands.

With a flick and of her wrists there was a soft golden light and a large rich dark leather sack plonked down from mid-air onto the ground before them.

"I see your skills in sorcery have advanced" Thor's eyebrows rose with admiration as he opened the bag.

"I've only been working on those I already know. I have yet to learn a new trick" but then Lifa stilled as she caught sight of something large and golden shining from within.

"Thor…what is that?" she gulped and Thor chuckled.

"Something you might like a lot"

It seemed to be a pair of strange metallic rods and sheets folded up and both attached to a golden box on the back of a black leather chest harness.

"Here you must put it on for it to work" Thor motioned for her to turn around as he unclipped the crossed sword sheaths from her back. Lifa quickly shrugged them off and took the strange device in her brother's lap, strapping it tight into place on her back

It was surprisingly light given its size and flexible too as she made to twist and bend her back over.

She looked down at her chest where the harness was buckled together by a clasp with an amber orb which glimmered faintly as she fingered it with her right hand. As soon as the skin made contact however there was a sudden flash of bright light as golden band of the Gullhringr on her wrist sparked off faster than a lightning bolt.

"GHA!"

Lifa cried out as Thor quickly jumped away from her in alarm, holding his arms up to shield himself from the light which quickly enveloped his sister completely.

When he managed to open his eyes once more they widened considerably.

"Lifa…"

Lifa gasped as she looked over herself.

She was still in her yellow tunic and black stealth suit, but her arms legs and chest were covered in sleek fitting gold armour, similar in fact to what Sif usually wore. But that wasn't what had Lifa stumped.

No it was the fact that there were two great metallic wings folded behind her back.

However neither Asgardian barely had time to marvel at the amazing technology when they heard the sounds of feet thunder into the room. It was Coulson and he looked haggard.

"…Thor…" he puffed trying to catch his breath before looking up. His jaw dropped at the sight of the wings. "Holy shit"

"What is it Coulson?" Lifa exchanged a worried look with Thor who stood up to his feet frowning slightly as the Agent made to shake out his head to clear it.

"Fury wants you both at the lab right now. Loki might be trying to coerce Banner into bringing out the Hulk"

"The what?" Thor blinked in confusion.

"It is the monstrous green manifestation of Doctor Banner's inner anger" Lifa explained her face strained. "And it is not something we want breaking out aboard this airship, lest you wish for death"

* * *

Both Tony Stark and Bruce Banner looked away from their glass monitor to watch as Director Fury stormed into their lab his face livid.

"What are you doing Stark?"

"Uh, Kind of been wondering the same thing about you" Tony raised his eyebrows coldly.

"You're supposed to be locating the Tesseract"

"We are" Bruce nodded meekly from the side "The model we formed from Lifa's data is locked and we're sweeping for the signature now. When we get a hit, we'll have the location within half a mile"

He pointed to another monitor close by where a scan was being performed, the loading bar hitting forty seven percent.

"Yeah, then you get your Cube back. No muss, no fuss" Tony shrugged before frowning at the screen that was now in front of him loading a mass of encrypted data. "By the way what is phase two?"

Fury opened his mouth to speak but at that precise moment there was a loud thump and a clatter as Steve Rogers walked in and dumped a large gun on one of the now clear work benches.

"Phase two is SHIELD uses the Cube to make weapons. Sorry, computer was moving a little slow for me" the super soldier added sharply, narrowing his eyes on the genius billionaire before turning to the Director who tried to put a placating hand up.

"Rogers we gathered everything related to the Tesseract, this does not mean that we're making-"

"Oh I'm sorry Nick" Tony steamrolled over him as he turned the display in front of him around to face the room at large. On it was the blueprint of a missile like structure "What were you lying?"

Steve's scowl became even darker than ever as it looked upon the spy with disgust.

"I was wrong Director, the world hasn't changed a bit"

But even as he spoke Natasha, Thor and Lifa walked through a side door and entered the room.

"Did you know about this?" Bruce looked at Natasha whose eyes narrowed as she carefully walked towards him.

"You wanna think about removing yourself from this environment doctor?"

Bruce chuckled but his voice was hollow.

"I was in Calcutta, I was pretty well removed"

"Loki is manipulating you"

"And you've been doing what exactly?"

"You didn't come because I bat my eyelashes at you"

"Yeah and I'm not leaving just because suddenly you get a little twitchy." Bruce spat as he gestured to the monitor with the missile blueprint "I'd like to know why SHIELD is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction."

There was a small silence in which everyone turned to look at Fury.

"Because of _them_"

"Us?" both Thor and Lifa blinked in surprise as a dark gloved finger pointed in their direction.

"Two years ago Earth had a visitor from another planet, who had a grudge match that levelled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, hilariously, outgunned" Fury explained his gaze particularly hard on Lifa who glowered back.

She didn't care if he was still pissed off at her for her actions, she was not going to give in to guilt.

Thor noticed this exchange and quietly made to step forwards so that he was between the director and the younger girl, his own gaze grim.

"My people want nothing but peace with your planet"

"But you're not the only people out there are you?" Fury growled lowly. "And you are not the only threat. The world's filling up with people who can't be matched. That can't be controlled"

"Like you controlled the Cube?" Steve snorted.

"Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies" Thor explained angrily "It is a signal to all the realms that the Earth is ready for a higher form of war"

"A higher form?" Steve looked disturbed even as Fury tried to speak once more.

"You forced our hand, we had to come up with something-"

"A nuclear deterrent" Tony butted in rolling his eyes scathingly at the director "Because that always calms everything right down"

"Remind me again how you made your fortune Stark?" Fury rounded on Tony who folded his arms smugly even as Lifa made to but in.

"Fury I really don't think-" but she was cut off by Steve who was looking tense.

"I'm sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck deep in-"

"Wait, wait! Hold on. How is this now about me?" Tony narrowed his eyes at the super soldier who glowered back.

"I'm sorry isn't everything?"

"Hey will you all just-" Lifa tried again but this time Thor rumbled over her derisively.

"I thought humans were more evolved than this"

"Thor wait-"

"Excuse me" Fury's voice rose in offence as he rounded now on the Asgardian "Did we come to your planet and blow stuff up?"

"You treat your champions with such mistrust"

Lifa sighed heavily as Natasha's and Bruce's voice suddenly cut into the argument.

"Are you boys really that naieve? SHIELD monitors potential threats"

"And Captain America's not a threat?"

"We all are"

As she did her best to drown out all the angry outbursts and quarrels Lifa's eyes strayed towards the sceptre which had started to hum as waves of energy practically began to leak out across the room.

_Just what is that gem made of?_

She felt a wave of negative energy run throughout her body and her head throbbed a little as the blue gem within the blades glimmered faintly.

She shut her eyes as she felt the beginnings of a vision begin to cloud her mind.

_Loki pacing his glass cage…_

"Stark so help me god if you make one more wise crack-"

_His face a smirking mask…_

"Threat! Verbal threat. I feel threatened"

_As he whispered "Any time now"_

"Show some respect"

_Now she was in a plane flying over a sea of white clouds,_

"Respect what?"

_she turned her head around to look in the cargo bay behind her_

Lifa gasped softly as the familiar face of Clint Barton filled her vision as he prepped up a dark quiver.

She quickly pulled out of her vision panting for breath as she backed into the wall for support but none of the others noticed her. They were too interested in their own disputes to really care.

Even Thor was snorting derisively.

"You speak of control yet you court chaos"

"That's his M.O. isn't it" there was suddenly silence as everyone turned to Bruce Banner whose entire body language had gone extremely tense.

"I mean what are we a team? No-no-no, we're a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We're….we're a time bomb"

"You need to step away" Fury stepped forwards his face now looking very worried but Tony was quick to come to his lab partner's defence.

"Hey why shouldn't the guy let off a little steam?"

"You know damn well why, now back off" Steve snapped at him as he felt the billionaire put a jovial hand on his shoulder.

Tony's eyes hardened considerably.

"Oh I'm starting to want you to make me"

"Yeah big man in a suit of armour" Steve narrowed his eyes "take that off what are you?"

"Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist" Tony shrugged much to the soldier's disgust.

"I know guys with none of that worth ten of you. And I've seen the footage. The only thing you really fight for is yourself. You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you"

"I think I would just cut the wire"

"Always a way out" Steve rolled his eyes. "You may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero"

"A hero you?" Tony eyed the spangled uniform with obvious distaste "You're a laboratory experiment Rogers. Everything _Special _about you came out of a bottle"

"Alright then…" Steve hissed softly "Put on the suit…let's go a few rounds"

Lifa felt the pain in her forehead spike again but this time the image was so strong that it clouded over her plain vision even as she stood with her eyes open.

_Clint was standing at the back of a plane which had its cargo bay hatch open, his bow and arrow ready to fire._

"Thor…" she breathed trying to clutch at her brother's arm but he wasn't paying her any attention as he chuckled with amusement at the other men's stupidity.

"You people are so petty…and tiny"

"Yeah this is a team" Bruce snorted sarcastically shaking his head as Fury spoke to Natasha.

"Agent Romanoff would you please escort Dr Banner back to his-"

"Where?" Bruce cut across him smirking hollowly at Fury "You rented my room"

"The cell was just in case-"

"In case you needed to kill me. But you can't I know I tried!"

There was an uncomfortable silence as everyone stared at the doctor who grimaced at the attention suddenly placed on him.

"I got low" he mumbled "I didn't see an end. So I put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy, _spit it out._ So I moved on I focused on helping other people. I was good. Until you dragged me back into this freak show and you put everyone here at risk. You want to know my secret Agent Romanoff? You wanna know how I stay calm?"

He turned to Natasha whose hand had reached for her handgun on her thigh. Lifa stiffened as she could openly see the small blue flickers of rage stirring from beneath the surface of those dark eyes.

"Bruce" she murmured softly but clearly so that his attention snapped at once towards her the rage now straining painfully against whatever barrier he had in place in his mind. "Bruce…please put down the sceptre"

Bruce looked down at his hand.

Sure enough, in its grip, Loki's golden sceptre was glowing a bright blue.

Lifa held her breath as slowly and carefully Bruce held the weapon up to look at the blue gem that now glowed brightly from within.

Then suddenly there was a shrill beeping noise and everyone jumped. But it was only to see the monitor of one of Stark's computers, which had completed its scan for the Tesseract and was now flashing a warning signal on the display.

Bruce quietly set down the sceptre much to the relief of everyone else and quickly made his way over to the device murmuring.

"Sorry kids you don't get to see my party trick after all"

_Thank goodness_

Lifa sighed with relief as she leaned back into the wall as Thor made his way past her.

"You located the Tesseract?"

"I could get their fastest" Tony called but Thor shook his head.

"The Tesseract belongs on Asgard. No human is a match for it"

But Tony was already being held back by Steve who still didn't seem altogether too pleased with his behaviour.

"You're not going alone"

"You're gonna stop me?"

"Put on the suit let's find out"

"Oh I'm not afraid to hit an old man" Tony smirked in his face as both he and Steve came up toe to toe.

"Put on the suit" Steve's fists clenched.

Lifa's head throbbed as another vision of Clint filled her mind. This time she could see his target.

Her eyes widened.

_Clint clicked a button on his bow._

"NO!"

But too late…

_KABOOOM!_

…The engine of the helicarrier had exploded.

* * *

DUN-DUN-DU~N! Muahahahaha!

if you want to read more review ;)


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